GDP Plunges to 1.9%

On Thursday, the U.S. Department of Commerce released a report chock full of weak growth figures and worrisome economic signals.

The gross domestic product (GDP) dropped from last quarter's 3.0 percent to an anemic 1.9 percent. Over half of first-quarter growth came from automobile sales. When automobiles are removed from the calculation, the GDP grew at just 0.7 percent.

Second-quarter growth estimates of 2.0 percent growth, therefore, may be overly optimistic. 

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