Corporate profits fell in the first quarter for the first time in more than two years, and the economy grew at the same pace as previously estimated, Reuters reported.

After-tax corporate profits fell at a rate of 0.9 percent, the U.S. Department of Commerce said today, after rising at a 3.3 percent pace in the fourth quarter of 2010.

In its second estimate of the economy, the department said gross domestic product growth was unrevised at an annual rate of 1.8 percent, below economists’ expectations for a 2.1 percent pace.

The drop in profits, the first since the fourth quarter of 2008, likely reflected a slowdown in productivity growth as businesses stepped up hiring. Economists had predicted that corporate profits would grow at a 2.3 percent pace.

“There is no doubt the economy has slowed. We will call the first half of 2011 as a soft patch,” said Robert Dye, a senior economist at PNC Financial Services, in an interview with Reuters. “We should see growth accelerate in the second half in the 3 percent to 3.5 percent area.”

The rise in initial claims for unemployment benefits last week suggested that the pace of hiring might be slowing. Initial claims climbed to 424,000 from 414,000 the prior week.