GDP Growth Misses Estimate by 64 Percent, Recession Fears Real Read Newsmax: GDP Growth Misses Estimate by 64 Percent, Recession Fears Real

The latest GDP numbers released Thursday sent shock waves among economist and traders with the data indicating the economy is seriously slowing.

The Commerce Department reported Thursday that U.S. gross domestic product in the first quarter rose just an anemic 1.6%, while analysts had predicted GDP of 2.4% for the first quarter — a miss of 64% from the estimate.

The GDP contraction suggests a recession could be in the offing. A recession is defined as two consecutive quarters of growth below 2%.

Meanwhile, inflation is still higher than expected.

Personal consumption expenditure inflation for the first three months came in at 3.4%, and core PCE, excluding food and fuel, was 3.7% — far above the Fed’s 2% target.

“This report was the worst of both worlds: Economic growth is slowing and inflationary pressures are persisting,” Chris Zaccarelli, chief investment officer of Independent Advisor Alliance, told Bloomberg. …full story