US GDP slumps with 2.9% contraction in Q1

US GDP contracted 2.9% in the first quarter as bad weather had a worse-than-expected impact, according to final estimates.

Economists had expected GDP to contract by 1.8%, a further downwards revision following the 1% contraction revealed in the second estimate last month. That followed the Bureau of Economic Analysis' initial estimate of 0.1% growth, a figure which now looks like a major outlier. The figures have been blamed on the period of bad weather which affected much of the US at the start of 2014, with many observers pointing to renewed signs of growth in Q2. But while the first quarter is long since over, optimism has been knocked by today's surprise: Ten-year US Treasury yields fell from 2.57...