A report from the Commerce Department revealed on Wednesday that the
U.S. economy contracted marginally more than initially estimated in the first
quarter of 2022, as a downward revision to personal consumption expenditures
(PCE) was partly offset by an upward revision to private inventory investment.
According to the third estimate, the U.S. gross domestic product (GDP) shrank
at an annual rate of 1.6 percent in the first quarter, being slightly worse than
a 1.5 percent contraction reported in the second estimate.
Economists had expected the growth rate to be unrevised at -1.5 percent.
In the previous quarter, the economy expanded by 6.9 percent q-o-q.
The decrease in real GDP was mainly due to declines in exports, federal
government spending, private inventory investment, and state and local
government spending. In addition, imports, which are a subtraction in the
calculation of GDP, increased. Meanwhile, nonresidential fixed investment, PCE,
and residential fixed investment were higher.