The U.S. economy contracted during the first three months of the year, the third such retreat since the end of the Great Recession in 2009. Newly revised numbers released Friday showed the economy shrank at an annualized pace of 0.7 percent. Economists don’t see the current quarter doing a lot better, perhaps only expanding by 2 percent—leaving the economy at a virtual standstill for the first half of 2015. Economists blame the drop on a nasty winter, cheap oil that pinched one of the best-performing sectors, and a strong dollar that makes the cost of selling products overseas more expensive.
Read it at The Washington Post
