WASHINGTON – U.S. gross domestic product fell 2.9% in the first quarter of 2014, according to the third revised estimate from the U.S. Commerce Department. Earlier preliminary estimates had reported a smaller decline in GDP.

Contributing to this higher figure for GDP decline were downward revisions to health-care spending following the roll-out of the Affordable Care Act. Government economists initially predicted that newly-insured Americans (and those on new plans) would spend more on healthcare than they did in the first quarter.

Most of the contraction in the first quarter is still attributed to severe winter weather across the country in early 2014, leading consumers to stay in more, and spend less. Businesses cut back on hiring, production and investment. Other factors slowing the economy down included elimination of federal long-term unemployment benefits, and cuts to the federal food stamp program.

In a report from Marketplace, economist John Canally at brokerage company LPL Financial in Boston, explained “The second quarter looks pretty strong, with GDP tracking [positive] … It would be the best run rate on the economy since well before the Great Recession.”

Canally also pointed out that consumer confidence is up and so is hiring by businesses. Unemployment claims are down, while the manufacturing sector has strengthened.

However, there are also worrisome economic indicators on the horizon: rising consumer prices, especially for food and gasoline; stagnant wages for most workers; historically high levels of long-term unemployment; and international tensions in the Middle East, East Asia and Eastern Europe.

According to the Marketplace report, most economists don’t think there’s much danger of the U.S. slipping back into recession — at least not without a significant shock, such as a further spike in oil prices.