The Economy : Gross National Product Revised Down
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Indicator: First-quarter gross national product figure, which tracks the country’s total output of goods and services.
What it did: The GNP was revised down to 2.8% in the January-March quarter from a 2.6% estimated decline a month ago.
What it means: The government blamed the weaker GNP showing on an even bigger drop in consumer spending than previously believed and a larger rate of inventory liquidation by businesses. The economy contracted at an annual rate of 1.6% in the October-December quarter, thus meeting the classic definition of a recession as two consecutive quarterly declines in the GNP.
Highlights: Analysts said the bigger drawdown of inventories in the first quarter could turn out to be a positive factor for the second quarter as businesses, seeing signs of a pickup in demand, move more quickly to increase production.
GNP Percent change from previous quarter 1st quarter (revised): -2.8% Source: Commerce Department
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