U.S. GDP down 1.4% in first quarter U.S. GDP shrank at a 1.4% annual rate in the first quarter, as supply disruptions continued to weigh on the economy, marking a sharp reversal from a 6.9% annual growth rate in the fourth quarter. The Commerce Department said the first three months of the year were the weakest since spring 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic and related shutdowns drove the U.S. economy into recession. Personal consumption expenditures, a measure of consumer spending, rose at an annual rate of 2.7% in the first quarter, fuelled by a 4.3% jump in spending on services and a 4.1% increase in spending on durable goods. A deceleration in private inventory investment weighed on growth after helping propel GDP in the back half of 2021. Other restraints came from exports and government spending across state, federal and local governments, as well as rising imports. Nevertheless, Pantheon Macroeconomics chief economist Ian Shepherdson said the economy is unlikely to fall into recession, describing the GDP figures as "noise, not signal." He observed: “Net trade has been hammered by a surge in imports, especially of consumer goods, as wholesalers and retailers have sought to rebuild inventory. This cannot persist much longer, and imports in due course will drop outright, and net trade will boost GDP growth in Q2 and/or Q3.”

The Hill CNBC Wall Street Journal New jobless claims decline amid tight labor market New applications for U.S. unemployment benefits fell slightly last week as employers held on to their workers in a tight labor market. Initial jobless claims, a proxy for layoffs, decreased to 180,000 from the previous week’s revised level, the Labor Department said Thursday, in line with forecasts of economists polled by the Wall Street Journal. The four-week average for claims, which smooths out volatility, inched higher to 179,750 from the previous week’s revised 177,500. Continuing claims, a proxy for the total number of people receiving payments from state unemployment programs, declined to 1.408m for the week ended April 16th, the fewest since February 21st 1970. “The labor market remains in excellent shape as the spring quarter begins. We expect a payroll job rise of close to 450,000 in April and a decline in the unemployment rate to 3.5%,” said Stuart Hoffman, senior economic advisor at PNC Financial Services Group. Market Watch Washington Post Wall Street Journal CORPORATE