Bitcoin (BTC) price rises toward $97,000 ahead of US jobs report

The S&P 500 had its longest rally as optimism grew that trade tensions between Washington and Beijing are cooling.

The CoinDesk 20 (CD20) index is little changed over the last 24 hours with the drop in first-quarter GDP still pointing to economic strain from the trade war.

The post Federal Reserve Economic Data Shows Strain From Trade War, But Optimism Remains in Sight appeared first on TokenPost | Cryptocurrency News, Price Charts and Analysis.

The U.S. economy grew more slowly than previously estimated in the first quarter as spending by consumers, which drives about 70% of the economy, fell sharply, according to fresh government data released Friday.

The Bureau of Economic Analysis revised down its estimate of gross domestic product to post a 1.1% rise, compared to an initial reading of 1.2% and expectations of 1.3%. It was the weakest pace of growth since the fourth quarter of 2018.

The revision came as personal consumption expenditure (PCE), the Federal Reserve’s preferred measure of inflation, came in above forecasts at 1.3% year-over-year, slowing from the fourth quarter's 1.4% rate. Economists had expected a 1.1% reading.

The new data showed that consumer spending fell at a 0.5% quarter-over-year rate, sliding from the fourth quarter's 1.2% gain and marking the worst performance since the third quarter of 2009. Economists had anticipated a 0.4% drop.

The fresh figures also showed a revised trade deficit of $128.9 billion for the quarter, sliding from the prior reading of $133.3 billion and rolling in above economists' expectations of $126.8 billion.

The post U.S. Economy Grew More Slowly Than Expected in Q1 as Spending Fell Sharply, Revamped Data Shows appeared first on TokenPost | Cryptocurrency News, Price Charts and Analysis.