Analysts were expecting +1.1% growth in GDP for Q1 but instead advance estimates shows -1.4%!!! will need to wait for may 26 to get the final numbers thou
The drop in GDP is basically from less government spending, less consumer spending and less exports… Biden is blaming it on the Omicron virus and totally ignoring that inflation is raging…
So in layman terms what’s happening on the ground in the US?
Taken from https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/ASPUS the home prices have had a record run up due to the excess money printing in 2020/2021… too much free stimulus checks for sure… the past 2 years US home prices are like up 20% per year!!!
Then we look at the 30 year Mortgage rates (basically people in US like to take a fixed 30 year bank loan to purchase homes)
from a lows of 2.5% level it has spiked up to over 5%! so not only are homes so expensive now, its increasingly difficult to service your monthly payments… housing has become very unaffordable.. rents are skyrocketing and consumers feels the need to tighten their wallets… spend less on their wants in order to cover their basic shelter first
Prices of food and energy is shooing up to… consumers can spend less on their wants but they cannot cut back on their basic needs.. they need to eat, they need to get to work they need to a place to stay… but everything else they will cut back a little here and there…which means less online shopping, less holidays, less Netflix lol