WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — The nation’s economic growth slowed to a crawl in the first quarter, a period marked by severe weather, a soaring dollar that curbed American exports and a steep drop in investment by U.S. energy companies after oil prices tanked.

Gross domestic product expanded by a meager 0.2% annual pace, well below the MarketWatch forecast of a 1.2% gain.

By contrast, the economy grew at a 2.2% rate in the final three months of 2014.

For the most part, consumers continued to spend at modest clip to keep the economy afloat, helped by a sharp drop in inflation that stretched their dollars a little further. Outlays rose 1.9%, down from an unsustainable 4.4% in the prior quarter but just several ticks below the average gain since a U.S. recovery began in mid-2009.

Steady consumer spending, fueled by a surge in hiring over the past few years and a plunge in gasoline prices, is expected to keep the economy on track for stronger growth in the months ahead.

Most economists predict a rebound soon in a replay of what happened in 2014, when a 2.1% decline in first-quarter GDP spawned by harsh winter weather was followed by outsized gains of 4.6% and 5% in the spring and summer.

“First quarter GDP was disappointing, but the economy should bounce back in the second quarter and in the rest of this year,” said Gus Faucher, senior economist at PNC Financial Services.

Yet few expect the snapback in 2015 to be quite as strong, owing mainly to the strong dollar. The dollar has jumped almost 10% in value over the past 12 months, making American goods and service more expensive for foreigners to buy.

A major labor dispute at key West Coast ports earlier this year that’s since been settled also disrupted the flow of trade.

As a result, exports sank 7.2% in the first three months of the year, while imports edged up 1.8%, the Commerce Department said Wednesday. A bigger trade deficit subtracts from GDP.

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The plunge in oil prices, meanwhile, forced a resurgent U.S. energy industry to retrench, dampening growth in some of the nation’s best-performing states such as Texas and North Dakota. Companies scaled back investment and laid off workers to cope with cheap oil. Investment in mining exploration, shafts and wells, for example, tumbled 49% to mark the biggest decline since 2009.

The damage done to the economy from the pullback in the energy industry, however, is expected to be more than offset by the benefits of cheaper oil for consumers and most other companies.

Overall, business investment on “structures” sank 23.1% in the first quarter, the biggest drop in four years. Companies did boost investment on equipment, but just barely so. Equipment spending rose a scant 0.1%.

In a surprise, businesses spent an whopping $110.3 billion on inventories — the biggest gain in five years — to restock warehouse shelves. Without such a large increase, GDP would have been negative.

Yet companies typically spend less on inventories after such a large buildup, suggesting second-quarter growth might not be as strong as expected. Economists polled by MarketWatch predict a 3.5% increase in growth in the period from April to June.

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Home builders also scaled back early in the year, hampered by unusual cold and heavy snow in some parts of the country such as New England. Residential investment inched up just 1.3%

Still, construction is expected to accelerate in the spring, as it often does with the arrival of warm weather and the biggest home-buying season of the year.

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Inflation as measured by the PCE price index fell at a 2% annual rate in the first quarter. The core rate that excludes food and energy rose at 0.9% pace, but that was the smallest increase in five years.

Cheap oil is largely responsible for slack inflation, but with petroleum prices creeping higher, inflation is likely to move up as well.

GDP reflects the value of all the goods and services the U.S. produces and it’s the best reflection of the nation’s economic health. Since the recovery began nearly six years ago, the U.S. has grown at a lackluster 2.3% pace, well below the nation’s historical 3.3% average.

Although the economy is much stronger now than it was even just a few years ago, the Federal Reserve has been hesitant to raise a key interest rate that’s been hovering near zero since 2008. The Fed wants to see a further drop in unemployment and an increase in stagnant U.S. wages.

The central bank is meeting Wednesday to plot its next move, but Wall Street doesn’t expect an interest-rate hike until later in the year, especially after a disappointing March employment report.

The preliminary 126,000 increase in new jobs last month marked the smallest gain in 15 months, ending the longest streak of 200,000-plus gains since the late 1990s.