U.S. recession risk leaps as GDP shrinks for the first time since 2022
President Donald Trump's trade policies could be setting up the U.S. economy for its first recession since the Covid crisis of 2020.
The U.S. economy contracted sharply in the first quarter, according to an early Commerce Department estimate published Wednesday, as the impact of tariffs triggered a record surge in imports and slowed domestic spending.
First-quarter GDP was pegged at -0.3%, down from the positive 2.4% pace recorded over the final three months of last year and well shy of Wall Street's forecast for an advance of around 0.4%. The contraction marks the first time the economy has shrunk since the first quarter of 2022.
