U.S. Economy Shrinks for First Time Since 2011, -1%.

Pent Demand Suggests Temporary Setback

Seems temporary, but for the Obama Administration it seems that when it rains it pours.

The first quarter was simply brutal in a lot of respects.

Good to hear the setback is projected to be temporary (and good to hear the projected 3.5% projected second quarter rate).

The Dow well over 16,000+. Where are the jobs?

I wonder if the HHS mandate wasn't tied up in litigation would the economy be worse? A fine of $100 per employee per day can't be good for the economy, it essentially increases the annual cost of each employee by $36,500, which would mean less hiring, more layoffs and probably more offshoring.

Hopefully the projection for the second quarter (4.2% growth) turns out to be true. Furthermore one would certainly hope that last quarter is an incredibly rare event am I right?

When companies were releasing lower than expected earnings experts kept saying, "Don't worry, the prolonged and particularly terrible winter really put a damper on economic activity. It will be back once the weather warms up."

Assuming that holds true, Q2 should be better.

Asia

duh. china

edit: what squeets said

@SwagSurf: The Dow's rise has more to do with the fed actively pumping billions monthly into the market, then an indicator of the healthy of the economy.