Shipping containers at the Port of Los Angeles on April 3. The latest US GDP report showed that goods imports rose by 51% in the first quarter, the fastest pace since 2020. Mario Tama/Getty Images ...

The U.S. economy contracted at a rate of 0.3% in the first quarter of 2025, according to an estimate released on Wednesday by the Bureau of Economic Analysis.

GDP tells us how hot the economy is running, or how cool — like if we might be heading into a recession. And it's an important tool to compare countries, policies, and politicians.

Real GDP fell in the year's first quarter at an annualized rate of 0.3%. That doesn't mean a recession, but Americans have been worried one will happen this year.

GDP tells us how much the economy grew or shrank, governments look to it when crafting economic policy, investors watch it to decide where to route flows of money.

The role of imports in GDP—Gross Domestic Product—confuses many people. The current political discussion about tariffs has triggered some of the misunderstanding. This article aims to help ...

What is GDP? A simple way to define Gross Domestic Product is to break down the three words making up the term: Gross is the total market value of how much goods and services cost in the ...