[Americas] U.S. first-quarter GDP revised down to -1.5%

 

The U.S. economy shrank slightly more severely in the first quarter than previously reported, according to revised official data released today, not supported by the continued strength of consumer spending.

 

The U.S. Commerce Department announced that the U.S. GDP contracted by 1.5 percent in the first three months of this year, a further 0.1 percentage point worse than the initial 1.4 percent contraction.

 

The U.S. Commerce Department report pointed out that the U.S. economic growth data for the last quarter was revised down, blaming business investment data that was worse than previously estimated, with a much smaller increase than the initial value, especially housing investment.

 

However, U.S. consumer spending remained active and the preliminary data was revised up, mainly driven by the American people buying more manufactured goods with higher unit prices.

 

Due to strong market demand, companies are constantly trying to fill depleted product inventories; but supply chain problems and rising prices are hindering the replenishment process. U.S. inflation is at a more than 40-year high.

 

Rising U.S. imports also weighed on growth figures as U.S. exports have not yet fully recovered.

 

Lydia Boussour, an economist at Oxford Economics, said: "The details of this report once again point to the strength of the US economy's fundamentals and the face of COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019) Omicron The virus strain, continued supply constraints and high inflation remain resilient.”

 

However, she also said in the analysis report: "Although we still expect that the Federal Reserve Board (Fed) will guide the US economy towards a soft landing, the downside risks to the US economy and the possibility of recession are rising." Source: hk.news.yahoo 0526) ☺