JUST IN: Economy smashes expectations in first quarter!

by The Right Scoop

It’s being reported that the growth in the first quarter of 2019 the growth of the economy “smashed” expectations – at least that’s how CNN is putting it in their chyron.

Indeed, that’s what everyone is suggesting:

CNBC – The U.S. economy grew at a faster pace than expected in the first quarter and posted its best growth to start a year in six years.

First-quarter GDP expanded by 3.2% in the first quarter, the Bureau of Economic Analysis said. Economists polled by Dow Jones expected the U.S. economy increased by 2.5% in the first quarter. It was the first time since 2013 that first-quarter GDP topped 3%.

“The upside beat was helped by net trade (exports jumped while imports contracted sharply) and inventories which combined contributed almost 170 bps of the rise,” wrote Peter Boockvar, chief investment officer at Bleakley Advisory Group.

Friday’s data was the first look at how the economy fared during the longest government shutdown in history. The federal government ceased operations for 35 days between late December and Jan. 25 amid a standoff between the Trump administration and congressional leaders over funding for a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.

I was reading Market Watch this morning and they suggested that state and local spending likely went up in the first quarter with the government shutdown, which may have helped spur some of this growth.

Even Piers Morgan was excited by the news:

Trump hasn’t tweeted about it yet, but I suspect he’s quite excited about the numbers. We should be hearing from him sooner than later.


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