The gross domestic product reading fell short of the 0.4% growth that economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal expected.

Imports spiked at an annual rate of 50.9% the first three months of the year and the nation’s trade deficit widened by $14 billion to a record $162 billion in March. All told, the first quarter’s yawning trade gap subtracted about 5 percentage points from economic growth.

US President Donald Trump has shared his first reaction to the GDP figures which were announced this morning, which indicates the US economy shrank 0.3% in first three months of this year. On Truth Social, Trump claims: "this is Biden’s Stock Market, not Trump’s".