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US Economic Data Signals Firmer Growth That May Ease by Yearend

  • Consumer spending off to a solid start early in second quarter
  • Manufacturing gauges soften, while housing market stumbles
An employee adjusts diamond jewelry in the window of a store in New York. 

An employee adjusts diamond jewelry in the window of a store in New York. 

Photographer: Stephanie Keith/Bloomberg

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Firmer consumer spending and a decisive narrowing of the merchandise trade deficit show the US economy is emerging in short order from a first-quarter pothole.