Today, the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) released their first installment of the Q1 2009 GDP report showing a striking contraction with GDP declining at an annual rate of -6.1%.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 -37.9% and residential investment plunging -38.0% while net exports of goods and services declined -30.0%.
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 2.2%.
The following chart shows real residential and non-residential fixed investment versus overall GDP since Q1 2003 (click for larger version).
