6.1

By Creature

That's the percent decline in GDP for the first quarter of this year. It's a "worse-than-expected" drop as "sharp cutbacks by businesses and the biggest drop in U.S. exports in 40 years overwhelmed a rebound in consumer spending." So while consumers stepped up to the plate and spent some cash, this drop is mainly the result of business cutbacks. Maybe we can take comfort in the consumer confidence, spending half of this equation, but until the business world stops retrenching we've got a long way to go (especially on the unemployment front). Ugh.