US Gross Domestic Product contracted by 1.5% in the first quarter of this year, the Commerce Department said on Thursday in its second estimate for the period, downgrading by a point its initial growth forecast
WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 26th May, 2022) US Gross Domestic Product contracted by 1.5% in the first quarter of this year, the Commerce Department said on Thursday in its second estimate for the period, downgrading by a point its initial growth forecast.
"Real gross domestic product (GDP) decreased at an annual rate of 1.5 percent in the first quarter of 2022, following an increase of 6.9 percent in the fourth quarter of 2021," the Bureau of Economic Analysis, a unit within the Commerce Department, said in a news release. "The decrease was revised down 0.1 percentage point from the 'advance' estimate released in April."
The Commerce Department issues three GDP readings altogether for each quarter. Economists surveyed by US media had projected a minus 1.3% reading for the second estimate.
The 6.9% growth reported for the previous quarter came on the back of aggressive economic expansion from disruptions caused earlier by the coronavirus pandemic. The first quarter of this year, in contrast, was marked by a surge of COVID-19 cases featuring the Omicron variant of the virus and decreases in pandemic assistance payments, the Commerce Department said.
