Economic growth slowed in the first quarter of the year, with the pace of year-on-year expansion dropping to 5.4%-the slowest pace since the second quarter of 2009. Growth had accelerated to 7.6% in the fourth quarter of 2010, and the economy posted an overall expansion of 6.8% in 2010 as a whole, according to the official data agency, the General Statistics Office (GSO). Although the impact of recent policy tightening efforts are unlikely to have been felt fully yet, they may have had some impact in contributing to the slowdown, but Vietnam has typically recorded a relatively slow pace of growth in the first quarter of recent years, with growth accelerating in subsequent quarters. Unfavourable weather conditions are thought to have hampered the agricultural sector somewhat, with the sector expanding by 2.1% year on year, while industry (including construction) grew by 5.5%. Manufacturing posted growth of 6.1% year on year in the first quarter, which was slightly above the rate of expansion recorded in the first quarter of 2010 (of 5.9%), but construction growth slowed markedly, dropping to 4.4% from 7.1% in the first quarter of 2010 and from 10.1% in 2010 as whole. Services, meanwhile, grew by 6.3%, supported by a 6.3% expansion in retail and wholesale trade and 6.9% growth in the hotels and restaurants sector.