Economic data this week did not move as the Federal Reserve may have wished. The preliminary estimates for first quarter GDP came in below expectations at a 1.6% annual rate, much lower than the fourth quarter rate of 3.4%. In addition to this news, the Federal Open Market Committee’s (FOMC) favored inflation metric, the Personal Consumption Expenditure (PCE) index came in at a slightly higher annual rate than was expected, indicating inflationary pressures continue to persist.