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Weak GDP, strong prices, highlight Fed dilemma

U.S. economic growth in the first quarter fell below the Federal Reserve's estimates of the economy's long-run potential for the first time in nearly two years, but the signs of slowing were accompanied with fast inflation that, if sustained, would pose a particular dilemma for the central bank. Fed officials through much of their battle with a pandemic-driven breakout of inflation said they thought it would take a period of below-trend growth to really bring price pressures into line, and the 1.6% rate of expansion registered in the first quarter met that mark after a period above the central bank's median 1.8% estimate of noninflationary potential. But prices have remained sticky, with the personal consumption expenditures price index over the first quarter rising at a 3.4% annual rate versus the Fed's 2% target.