Bull Trip!: GDP Report Q1 2009 (Preliminary)

Today, the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) released their second installment of the Q1 2009 GDP report showing a (revised) significant contraction with GDP declining at an annual rate of -5.7%.

Easily the most notable features of today’s report are the stunning declines to residential and non-residential as well as exports of both goods and services.

Fixed investment provided significant drags on growth with non-residential investment declining a whopping -36.9% and residential investment plunging -38.7% while net exports of goods and services declined -28.7%.

Making a positive contribution to GDP were equally stunning declines to imports of goods and services slumping -34.1% as well as positive personal consumption expenditures increasing 1.5%.

The following chart shows real residential and non-residential fixed investment versus overall GDP since Q1 2003 (click for larger version).