New York, Aug 1 (DPA) US stocks closed mixed Friday to end one of its best months in years, after government figures showed a smaller-than-expected contraction of the world's largest economy in the second quarter of the year.

The economy shrank at a 1-percent annual rate April-June period, according to a preliminary estimate by the US Commerce Department. The figure signals that the longest US recession since the Great Depression of the 1930s has eased.

But first-quarter gross domestic product (GDP) contracted a revised 6.4 percent, the worst three-month stretch in 27 years, Friday's report said. That figure was updated from a 5.5-percent drop reported last month.

The blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 17.