On May 29, the Bureau of Economic Analysis reported that the U.S. economy shrank at a 1.0% rate during the first quarter of 2014. The size of the slowdown caught analysts by surprise. As recently as April 29, the Associated Press was predicting a 1.1% growth rate during the first quarter, not a 1.0% shrinkage rate. The following table shows the contributors to real GDP growth. You can add up the contributions from the components in each column to get the rate of Real GDP growth shown in the bottom row: Contributors to Real GDP Growth Quarter 2013-1 2013-2 2013-3 2013-4 2014-1 Household Consumption 1.5% 1.2% 1.3% 2.2% 2.1% Business Fixed...(Read Full Post)