WASHINGTON — The U.S. economy grew at a 2.4 percent annual rate last quarter, sharply less than first thought, in part because consumers didn’t spend as much as initially estimated.

Severe winter weather is expected to further slow the economy in the current quarter. But as temperatures warm, most economists think growth will rebound beginning in the spring.

The Commerce Department today reduced its estimate of economic growth in the October-December quarter from an initial 3.2 percent annual rate. The revised estimate of 2.4 percent annual growth is the weakest quarterly showing since the first quarter of 2013.

A key reason for the downgrade was that consumer spending is now estimated to have expanded at a 2.6 percent annual rate, below the initial estimate of 3.3 percent though still the strongest quarterly spending by consumers in nearly two years.

For all of 2013, the economy grew at a lackluster 1.9 percent. Analysts think growth will rebound in 2014, possibly to as high as a 3 percent increase in the gross domestic product, the economy’s total output of goods and services.

Still, most think the rebound will be delayed by the unusually harsh winter, which has disrupted economic activity in much of the country.

Growth was held back last year by higher federal taxes and government spending cuts enacted to combat soaring budget deficits.

After enduring the deepest downturn since the Great Depression of the 1930s, the economy has struggled to gain momentum and made it harder for the jobless to find work.