Washington, May 27 (IANS/EFE): The government has said the US economy expanded at an annual rate of 1.8 percent between January and March, confirming previous figures that fell short of analysts' expectations.

The Commerce Department Thursday released the second of its three gross domestic product calculations. The figure came in below the projected growth rate of 2.2 percent cited by most experts.

The world's largest economy grew at an annual clip of 3.1 percent in the final quarter of 2010 and at a rate of 2.9 percent for all of last year, according to government reports.

The biggest surprise in Thursday's data was a correction in the earlier consumer spending figure. Initially, it was reported to have risen by an annual rate of 2.7 percent but that was adjusted downward to a 2.2 percent hike.

The personal consumption expenditures price index - an inflation measure closely tracked by the Federal Reserve - climbed 1.4 percent, down from an initial estimate of a 1.5 percent rise.

In other economic news, initial jobless claims unexpectedly climbed last week by 10,000 to 424,000, the Labour Department said Thursday.

But the four-week moving average, considered a more reliable indicator of the trend in new applications for unemployment benefits, fell by 1,750 to 438,500, the US government said.