US economy surges 6.4 percent in first quarter as COVID recovery gains steam

The US economy surged 6.4 percent in the first quarter of the year as the US recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic picked up speed, driven by government spending and mass vaccinations.

America’s gross domestic product — the value of all goods and services produced here — grew by 6.4 percent from January to March on an annualized basis, the feds said Thursday. Economists polled by Dow Jones and The Wall Street Journal expected an annualized growth rate of 6.5 percent. Outside of the third quarter of 2020 when the economy grew more than 30 percent, it was the best quarter for the GDP since 2003.