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BY LAURA JANVIER ANCHOR MEGAN MURPHY Expectations were high, but the outcome -- not so good. MSNBC reports, in the latest Gross Domestic Product -- or GDP numbers -- the U.S economy grew slower than expected. "First quarter GDP came in at 2.2 percent -- that's lower than expectations. And it's lower than the 3 percent number registered in the fourth quarter of 2011. So. bad news, right? Well, the good news is that consumer spending continues to pick up." ABC explains how the GDP numbers are stalling a faster economic recovery. "In reviewing the numbers, the fear now is that we may be running out of runway before the onset of another recession....what is becoming slightly concerning is that the unemployment rate is not decreasing at a fast enough rate. " Bloomberg talks with professor Phillip Swagel who says it's not a great report. "Its pretty underwhelming consumers were there but businesses were not, we saw the federal government subtract a bit and really getting nothing from the trade side exports and imports balanced out so it is definitely weaker than expected." An analyst on Fox Business says, this is not all bad news. "Although the details were mixed, the GDP report offered a somewhat better picture of growth compared with the fourth quarter, when inventory building accounted for nearly two thirds of the economy's growth." Even though expectations didn't meet predicted outcomes the quarterly growth was better this period. Forbes reports. "While the drop in GDP growth appears worrisome, economists say the first quarter's growth was, in some ways, healthier than the greater expansion in the prior period."