US economy barely grows in quarter 1

The United States government finally admitted about the slowdown in the economy. There was hardly any growth observed during the first quarter of the current fiscal.  The growth rate was 0.2 percent, slowest for a year.  The severe winter pointed towards the negative growth of the economy at the rate of 2.1 percent in 2014.  The experts’ already projected weaker growth before the announcement was made.

The survey of economists showed a 1 percent growth rate for the first three months in the year as compared to 2.2 percent rate in last three months of 2014.  Chief Economist Scott Anderson from Bank of the West informed that the U.S. economy suffered badly in the first quarter. Anderson, who is also senior vice president of the San Francisco-based bank, further added that moderate growth in the last quarter of the previous fiscal has resulted in no growth during the beginning of 2015.  Net exports and business investments are all time low and these sectors have contributed mainly to this negative development.  

In terms of employment, the economy added 126,000 Jobs in March but strong hiring sectors like construction and the government didn’t deliver much. The severe winter further lowered the employment.   Stronger dollar resulted in lower exports and labor disputes on the west coast of the country made the crisis worse. The net exports decreased by 7.2 percent. Big cuts in the energy sector spending have lowered the investment. Low oil prices are discouraging oil companies to kick-start new projects.