WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The United States appears to be shifting to a period of slower job and economic growth, and recent economic data was not consistent with recession in the first or second quarters of this year, White House officials said on Tuesday. The officials said they had not seen the key data on consumer prices due to be released on Wednesday, but that they expected energy and food prices to account for more than 40% of the annual increase. But energy prices had declined since the data for the June CPI index was collected and U.S. gasoline prices could be expected to decline in the w…