GDP down 0.7% in first quarter
Winter took a toll not only on our patience, but also on the national economy.
The U.S. gross domestic product, the value of the production of goods and services, fell 0.7 percent on an annual basis in the first quarter, according to the government’s latest estimate. That represented a downward swing of nearly 3 percent from the fourth quarter of last year, when GDP surged 2.2 percent, according to numbers that the U.S. Commerce Department released Friday.
The results were in line with expectations of market analysts, according to Yahoo Finance.
In the government’s “advance” estimate of first-quarter GDP issued last month, the economy grew by just 0.2 percent. But in the latest estimate, more complete data were available. The data reflect an increase in imports over the advance estimate, which is a negative factor in calculating GDP. Meanwhile, the government said exports, state and local government spending, and non-residential fixed investment also impacted GDP negatively.
The government said exports fell 7.6 percent in the first quarter, in contrast to a jump of 4.5 percent in the fourth quarter of last year. Imports grew 5.6 percent, a little more than half from a 10.4-percent jump in the previous quarter. Over the past several months, the dollar has gained value against the euro, which has made U.S.-made goods more expensive in most of Europe.
The dollar has been gaining against currencies on the other side of the world as well, notably the Japanese yen and the Australian dollar.
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