How U.S. economic strength caused GDP to decline in Q1 🤯

The U.S. imported much more than it exported to its weaker trading partners 📈

(Source: @M_McDonough)

Beware the gloomy headlines about U.S. GDP.

According to preliminary¹ Bureau of Economic Analysis data released on Thursday, U.S. GDP declined at an annual rate of 1.4%.

However, this negative number belies the relative strength of the U.S. economy.

The whole story can be explained by a single stat: Net exports subtracted 3.2 percentage points from GDP.