U.S. GDP fell at a 1.4% pace to start the year as pandemic recovery takes a hit

Gross domestic product unexpectedly declined at a 1.4% annualized pace in the first quarter, marking an abrupt reversal for an economy coming off its best performance since 1984, the Commerce Department reported Thursday.

The negative growth rate missed even the subdued Dow Jones estimate of a 1% gain for the quarter, but the initial estimate for Q1 was the worst since the pandemic-induced recession in 2020.

A plethora of factors conspired to weigh against growth during the first three months of 2022, which fell off a cliff following the 6.9% gain to close out last year.

Rising Covid Omicron infections to start the year hampered activity across the board, while inflation surging at a level not seen since the early 1980s and the Russian invasion of Ukraine also contributed to the economic stasis.

Prices increased sharply during the quarter, with the GDP price index deflator rising an annualized 8%, following a 7.1% jump in Q4.

At: https://www.cnbc.com/2022/04/28/us-q1-gdp-growth.html

Worried but still shopping, both private consumption (2.7%) and investment (2.3%) continued to grow in the first quarter - though government (-2.7%) and exports (-5.9%) slipped.