WASHINGTON (Reuters] – The U.S. is forecast to report slower economic growth during the first quarter. This will be mainly because of a lower jump in business inventories. But the overall economy still remains strong, a Biden Administration official told Wednesday.

Commerce Department has released an early reading of gross domestic product for the first quarter, which is due to be out by 8:30 a.m. Official said that it should not be taken to mean the economy is heading in the wrong direction.

According to the official, “Businesses are adding to their inventory. It’s just not happening as fast as the prior quarter.” You’ll see economic conditions still very, very good if you dig under the GDP number tomorrow.

Reuters polled economists and found that they expect growth to slow to 1.1% annually in the first three-months of 2022, down from 6.9% in the fourth quarter 2021.