Atlanta Fed keeps U.S. first quarter growth view at 1.9 percent

The U.S. economy is on track to grow 1.9 percent in the first quarter following data on domestic consumer prices and housing starts in February, the Atlanta Federal Reserve's GDPNow forecast model showed on Wednesday. Earlier Wednesday, the government said its Consumer Price Index, excluding the volatile food and energy components, rose 0.3 percent, bringing its year-over-year increase to 2.3 percent which was the largest gain since May 2012. It also said housing starts increased 5.2 percent to