The most recent figures from the United States suggest that the first quarter GDP came in at +0.9%, an upward revision from the flash estimate of 0.6%.  At first pass this is encouraging, but closer inspection shows a rather gloomier picture.  Much of the growth in the real GDP figure was due, in the words of the US Department of Commerce, to an upturn in inventory investment that was partly offset by a deceleration in the Personal Consumption Expenditure (PCE)". 

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