MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexico’s economy grew at a slower-than-expected 2.6 percent rate in the first quarter, the government said, crimped by a slowdown in the United States and fewer working days because of a national holiday.

The government also said the economy expanded 0.51 percent in the first quarter compared with the fourth quarter of 2007.
Holy Week of the Easter season, a five-day holiday for many employees in Mexico, fell in March this year, trimming the number of working days in the first quarter compared to a year ago when the holiday was in April.
Discounting the effect of that holiday, growth in the quarter would have been 3.7 percent year over year, the government said in a statement.
In the fourth quarter of last year, Mexico’s economy grew at a 4.2 percent clip, according to a recent revision of the index used by the government to calculate growth. Fourth-quarter growth was originally reported at 3.8 percent.
A Reuters poll of experts predicted growth of 3.35 percent in the first quarter.
Retail and services grew 4 percent in the quarter. The industrial sector expanded 0.9 percent, helped by a 2.7 percent rise in manufacturing and despite a 5.8 percent slump in mining. Agriculture was down 1.3 percent.
A steep slowdown in the United States, suffering from a crisis in credit markets and a slump in the housing industry, is expected to hurt growth in Mexico this year.
Mexico’s government says the economy will grow around 2.8 percent in 2008.
The U.S. economy grew at a 0.6 percent rate in the January to March period.