A year that was supposed to feature breakout economic growth may have started with little or none at all.

Gross domestic product likely rose just 0.6 percent in the first quarter, according to the latest projections Friday from the Atlanta Fed.

The central bank branch knocked its forecast in half following weakness from Friday's nonfarm payrolls report and data earlier this week on vehicle sales and nonmanufacturing activity. The report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics indicating that payrolls grew just 98,000 in March specifically took 0.2 percentage points off the forecast.

The fall has been remarkable considering what was expected, and precipitous when compared with earlier levels.

President Donald Trump's agenda of lower taxes, less regulation and increased government spending on infrastructure has spurred hopes for economic growth and has been reflected in high levels of positive sentiment from consumers, business people and investors.

However, that has been slow to show up in hard economic data, resulting in the Atlanta Fed taking its forecast down from as high as 3.4 percent on Feb. 1.

CNBC's Rapid Update GDP tracker projects growth at 1.4 percent.