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View Full Version : US government to review mystery of slow 1st quarter growth



Peter1469
05-23-2015, 09:06 AM
Typically the first quarter of each year (http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_ECONOMY_DATA_REVIEW?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2015-05-22-18-04-22)grows half as much as the other three quarters. That is the reason for the seasonally adjusted numbers- which is supposed to smooth out the effects of the holidays on economic growth in the 1st Q: gift spending, and layoff of seasonal extra workers.

But the seasonally adjusted numbers don't seem to be working....

Oh, so the government wants to change the way the numbers are crunched to make the economic numbers look better than they are reflect reality.



WASHINGTON (AP) -- There's something strange about the U.S. economy in the first three months of every year: It frequently grows at a much slower pace than in the other nine months.


And on Friday, the government agency charged with calculating the economy's growth rate said it would adjust its methods in an effort to resolve the problem.


The changes could paint a much different picture of the economy's recent performance. Concerns flared when the government said late last month that the economy expanded just 0.2 percent at an annual rate in the first quarter. But many economists have challenged the government's data, and some have argued the first-quarter figure should be as high as 1.8 percent instead.