For Immediate Release: Thursday, April 28, 2011
Contact: Phoebe Silag or Karen Conner, news@epi.org 202-775-8810

Gross domestic product—the broadest measure of economic activity—grew by an annualized rate of 1.8% in the first quarter of 2011, a decline from the previous quarter’s 3.1% rate.

In today’s GDP Picture, EPI economist Josh Bivens explains that the last six months have seen an average growth rate of just over 2.4%, a rate indicating that the economy’s growth isn’t strong enough to put any downward pressure on the overall unemployment rate. In short, unless the economy starts growing appreciably faster, the problem of high unemployment will be quite persistent.

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