The U.S. economy grew by 3.1% to start the year, slightly better than expected and providing some relief at a time when recession fears are accelerating.

First-quarter gross domestic product beat the 3.0% Dow Jones estimate but was lower than the initial 3.2% projection from the Bureau of Economic Analysis. The decrease came due to downward revisiosn to nonresidential fixed and private inventory investment, two key drivers to GDP.

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The new numbers, which represent the second reading, also reflect upward revisions to exports and personal consumption expenditures.

In the bigger picture, growth easily surpassed what most economists had been expecting at the start of the year. At one point, the Atlanta Federal Reserve was estimating GDP to rise just 0.2%. Strong contributions from real gross domestic income helped drive the better numbers, as did a rise in exports, state and local government spending as well as nonresidential fixed investment.

Corporate profits fell during the quarter, with nonfinancial corporations seeing a decline of $62.1 billion as compared to an increase of $13.6 billion in the fourth quarter. Financial companies saw an increase of $7.2 billion compared to a decrease of $25.2 billion for the previous period.

Personal consumption expenditures rose 1.3% in the quarter, compared to a rise of 2.5% in the previous quarter but well above the 0.5% in Q1 of 2018.

This story is developing. Please check back for updates.

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