“The impact of the Fed’s tight interest rate policy is clearly visible in the first quarter GDP report.”

Bill Adams, chief economist at Comerica, commented on a government report showing that the U.S. economy grew at a sluggish 1.3 percent annual pace from January through March, the weakest quarterly rate since the spring of 2022. The first quarter’s GDP growth marked a sharp slowdown from the 3.4 percent rate in the final three months of 2023.