GDP Decline Shows 1% Second-Quarter Drop

The U.S. economy contracted at an annual rate of 1% in the second quarter, matching an earlier estimate, the Commerce Department said Thursday.

The decline in the gross domestic product was less than economists’ forecasts of a 1.5% downturn, Bloomberg reported.

GDP shrank 6.4% in the first quarter, the fourth consecutive quarter of contraction and the longest down streak on record, Bloomberg reported.

The economy was down 3.9% from the second quarter of last year, the biggest year-to-year decline since records began in 1947.

Thursday’s report was the second of three that will be issued by Commerce in determining GDP output for the second quarter.