GDP grew at a 4.4% rate in first quarter

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Thursday, May 27, 2004 | 9:15 a.m.

WASHINGTON -- The U.S. economy grew at a 4.4 percent annual pace from January through March, faster than estimated last month, as businesses replenished inventories, government spending rose and home construction accelerated. Corporate profits over the past year increased by the most in two decades.

The revised reading on gross domestic product, the value of all goods and services produced, compares with the advance estimate of 4.2 percent annual rate issued last month, the Commerce Department said today in Washington. Profits, reported for the first time today, jumped 31.6 percent in the 12 months ended in March, the biggest increase since the first quarter of 1984.

Separately, the Labor Department reported that first-time claims fell by 3,000 last week to 344,000. The four-week average, a less volatile measure, rose to 335,500 from 334,000, which was the lowest since November 2000.