US real gross domestic product (GDP) narrowed 4.8% in the first quarter of 2020, according to an advance estimate statement on Wednesday.
“DUE TO THE RESPONSE TO THE CORONAVIRUS OUTBREAK”
In the fourth quarter of the previous year, real GDP rose 2.1%, the US Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Economic Analysis said.
It noted: “The decline in first quarter GDP was, in part, due to the response to the spread of coronavirus, as governments issued ‘stay-at-home’ orders in March.”
“The decrease in real GDP in the first quarter reflected negative contributions from personal consumption expenditures (PCE), nonresidential fixed investment, exports, and private inventory investment that were partly offset by positive contributions from residential fixed investment, federal government spending, and state and local government spending,” it stressed.