US GDP is revised down and has a 1.5% retraction in the 1st quarter

The Gross Domestic Product (GDP ) From U.S for the first quarter of 2022 was revised this Thursday (26), maintaining the scenario of contraction of the economy, with a drop of 1.5%.

The result is a little more negative than that of the first release, in April, when a drop of 1.4% was reported. It was also worse than expected by the market, which had forecast a 1.3% drop.

The fall was the first in the US economy since the recession generated by the pandemic almost two years ago. In the fourth quarter of 2021, growth was 6.9%.

The decline in production reflected a trade deficit and a moderate pace of stockpiling.

Even so, consumer spending was solid and business investment in equipment accelerated sharply.

Disclosure takes place while the Federal Reserve the central bank of the United States, carries out an interest rate hike cycle to deal with a inflation record, the highest in 40 years.

There is fear in one part of the market that the Fed could aggressively tighten monetary policy and drive the economy into recession over the next 18 months. However, the mayor, Jerome Powell stated that he does not see this scenario as likely.

Also released on Thursday were the weekly US jobless claims, which fell in the last week, indicating a job market still tight due to strong demand for workers.

Claims declined by 8,000 to 210,000 in the week ended May 21, according to the Labor Department.

The result undid part of the previous week’s rise, which had pushed claims to the highest level since January. Economists surveyed by Reuters had forecast 215,000 claims for the past week.

*With information from Reuters