US economy grows at slowest pace in two years as Obama defends legacy

• GDP grew at 0.5% instead of the expected 0.7% in the first quarter of this year
• White House says Republicans are partially to blame for stagnant wages

The US economy grew at the weakest pace in two years at the start of 2016 as consumer spending slowed, business investment plunged and exports declined further, the US Department of Commerce announced on Thursday.

The US gross domestic product grew by just 0.5% in the first quarter, down from 1.4% in the fourth quarter of 2015.

Related: Barack Obama hails economic successes as unemployment rate drops below 5%

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