Is the Economy Weaker Than We Know?

IRVINE, CA-Despite the cautiously optimistic outlook of many industry experts, examination of first-quarter GDP growth reveals that the economy may not be as strong as we had thought it would be by now, according to Auction.com Research. Peter Muoio, senior principal and economist with the firm, says that the final first-quarter GDP estimate hints at more weakness across key growth-driving components of the economy.

“The final estimate of first-quarter GDP growth was released earlier today, and it underscores a key message we have been repeating for years: initial estimates of important economic data are based on such incomplete data that they are too vulnerable to revision to be taken too seriously,” said Muoio in a prepared statement. “The final calculation for first-quarter real GDP growth was a 1.8% annual rate, significantly slower than the 2.4% earlier estimates.”