If you are looking for a slowdown in the US economy, don't look at first quarter growth, which has been revised upwards, although not by as much as expected. From Reuters:
The U.S. economy shot ahead at an upwardly revised 5.3 percent annual rate in the first quarter, the fastest pace of growth in 2-1/2 years, but prices remained in check, a Commerce Department report on Thursday showed.
But the GDP report is backward-looking. For more recent data...:
...April sales of existing or pre-owned homes dipped 2.0 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 6.76 million units, implying possible broad-based slowing ahead...
Separately, the Labor Department reported that new claims for unemployment benefits fell by 40,000 last week to a seasonally adjusted 329,000. That was partly because filings from Puerto Rico dropped after the end of a partial government shutdown.
The UK also updated its first quarter GDP. Again from Reuters:
The Office for National Statistics said gross domestic product rose by an unrevised 0.6 percent in the first quarter -- exactly as expected and the same rate as the previous quarter.
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