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To: DuckTapeSunroof who wrote (35223)	4/29/2009 11:38:52 AM
From: DuckTapeSunroof	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 71588

U.S. Economy Contracts Rapidly in First Quarter By Annys Shin Washington Post Staff Writer Wednesday, April 29, 2009 10:06 AM washingtonpost.com The U.S. economy contracted during the first three months of the year at one of the fastest rates in 27 years and surprised analysts by nearly matching the historic decline that had been registered in the final quarter of 2008, when it was battered by the financial meltdown. Gross domestic product, a measure of the goods and services produced across the nation, shrank at an annualized rate of 6.1 percent, according to a preliminary estimate released this morning by the Commerce Department, after contracting by 6.3 percent between September and January. Some analysts, pointing to continued cutbacks in business investment and residential and commercial construction, had braced for continued shrinking of the economy, but today's GDP estimate was worse than many had been expecting. Forecasters had predicted that the economy would shrink by anywhere from 3.5 to 6.4 percent. The economy's marginally better performance over the past quarter was spurred by consumers' spending on big ticket items such as appliances and on a steep fall in imports. But that was offset by a decline in business inventories, federal government spending and nonresidential construction. While the drop in business inventories made the GDP number worse, it also signals that businesses have made headway in clearing shelves and warehouses of unsold goods that piled up as demand plummeted. The small inventories mean companies are closer to having to step up production and possibly hire new workers. The figure out today is just a preliminary estimate and could change substantially when revised in several weeks, as was the case with the number for the fourth quarter of 2008. The Commerce Department initially said the economy shrank by 3.5 percent.