Second-Quarter GDP Contracts 1%

The U.S. economy contracted at an annual rate of 1% in the second quarter after the worst contraction in 27 years, the Commerce Department said Friday.

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

Economists’ forecast a 1.5% rate of contraction, and estimates ranged from a 0.7% gain to a 2.9% decline, Bloomberg said.

GDP was down 3.9% from the second quarter of 2008, the biggest year-over-year decline since records began in 1947.