According to official data, the US economy slowed dramatically in the first quarter of 2017.

GDP expanded at an annual rate of 0.7% in Q1 of 2017, which was a sharp slowdown from the 2.1% growth rate in the final three months of 2016.

It was also the lowest rate of growth since Q1 of 2014, when the economy contracted by 1.2%.

The Bureau of Economic Analysis blamed lower levels of government spending and private investment.

In recent years GDP growth has often been sluggish in the first quarter, but has picked up later in the year.

Meanwhile economists blame that trend on the way the data is collected.

Nancy Curtin, chief investment officer at Close Brothers Asset Management, said: “US GDP figures are typically weaker in the first quarter, so this reading is in line with the seasonal trend.

“We haven’t yet had the expected fiscal stimulus from Trump, the effects of which may not be seen until the end of this year or the start of 2018.”

Nancy Curtin also pointed out that other data suggested strength in the US economy: “While investors might be disappointed with the reading, it has been a steady start to the year with inflation looking benign, a resilient jobs market and positive PMI [purchasing managers’] data.”