Report: Mass. Economic Growth Slowed In Q1

Record snowfall and weak global economic conditions during the first quarter of 2015 slowed the Massachusetts economy, which grew only slightly faster than the national economy.

According to MassBenchmarks, a journal published Wednesday by the UMass Donahue Institute with the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, U.S. gross domestic product grew at an annual rate of 0.2 percent in the first quarter while Massachusetts' real gross domestic product grew at an annual rate of 0.9 percent during January, February and March.

The state economy grew at a revised 2.9 percent annualized rate in the fourth quarter of 2014, down from the originally reported 4.7 percent.

The MassBenchmarks leading index, which forecasts growth over the next six months, was 4.4 percent in March and averaged 4.6 percent for January through March. Index authors cautioned that export growth "may remain weak all year as a result of the strong dollar and the relatively weak prospects for international growth."