A watch factory in Detroit, Michigan. Low wage growth means many people are still living paycheck-to-paycheck.
Credit: Jeff Kowalsky/AFP/Getty

The U.S. economy wasn’t as strong as we thought.

Government agencies in recent weeks have substantially lowered their estimates of job gains, output growth and corporate profits over different periods since early 2018 through the first quarter of this year, as part of their regularly scheduled updates based on fuller data.

On the flip side, personal income — which comes from pay, dividends, interest and other sources–rose more and households saved more in 2018 and the first quarter of this year than earlier estimated.

Together, the new figures recast the picture of the expansion’s health as it approached its 10-year anniversary in June.

Employers added about two million jobs in the year through March, down 501,000 from a prior estimate, the Labor Department said Wednesday. That brought down the average monthly gain over that period to about 168,000 from 210,000 […]