U.S. economy seen growing 0.4 pct in first quarter: Atlanta Fed

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The U.S. economy is growing at a 0.4 percent pace in the first quarter following data on weaker-than-expected vehicle sales in March and a drop in factory orders in February, the Atlanta Federal Reserve's GDPNow forecast model showed on Tuesday.

This was slower than the 0.7 percent annualized pace for U.S. gross domestic product seen for the first three months in its prior estimate on April 1, the Atlanta Fed said on its website.

The latest GDP estimate was the weakest following a slew of softer-than-expected data on housing, consumer spending and investment data.

The Atlanta Fed's program initiated its first-quarter GDP forecast at 1.2 percent in early February and reached as high as 2.3 percent in March.

The regional Fed's forecast program downgraded its GDP estimate on the slower growth in consumer spending and a drop in equipment investment following the latest data on vehicle sales and factory orders.

The U.S. trade deficit grew to a wider-than-expected $47.06 billion in February, the government said on Tuesday.

The deterioration in exports was offset by a small rise in equipment investment growth, the Atlanta Fed said.

(Reporting by Richard Leong; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)

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