WASHINGTON, May 31: The US economy weakened in the first quarter with a sluggish 0.6 per cent growth pace, data showed on Thursday, but many analysts said they see signs of a rebound ahead.

The revised estimate for gross domestic product was down from last month’s estimate of 1.3 per cent and was the slowest pace since the fourth quarter of 2002, the Commerce Department report showed.

The figure was below the 0.8 per cent growth pace forecast by most Wall Street analysts and came after a 2.5 per cent expansion in the fourth quarter of 2006.

Many economists said that even though the report was below expectations, details of the data validate the view of the Federal Reserve that growth would pick up over the course of 2007.—AFP