The U.S. economy contracted at an annual rate of 0.5 percent in the first quarter of the year, according to the Department of Commerce, whose third and final estimate of gross domestic product (GDP) for the January–March period marked a further downgrade from its two earlier readings.
The decline in economic activity was largely driven by a surge in imports—which subtract from GDP calculations—a reduction in government spending, and a slowdown in consumer spending, according to the Jan. 26 report from the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA), an agency of the Commerce Department.
