U.S. economy shrank by 0.7% in Q1 2015...

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Today the U.S. Commerce Department announced the economic figures for the first three months of the 2015 (Q1)

Officially the U.S. economy has contracted by 0.7% for the first quarter of 2015.
This is more than expected but less than it did in the first quarter of 2014.

The reasons for this contraction are as follows:

1) The bad winter that most of the country faced
2) Significant dip in the already weak consumer spending (people are saving instead of spending still)
3) Businesses are still being very cautious when it comes to spending, fearing double dip recession
4) The rapid drop in foreign currencies as the dollar strengthened too a huge hit on U.S. exports
5) Global economic instability in EU, Russia, China, Japan, India, Asia and the Americas is dragging on the U.S. economy.
6) Lack of U.S. and state spending on domestic projects such as infrastructure (nearly all U.S. federal spending is on the Military [$1.3 Trillion], Social Security [~$900 Billion], Medicare/Medicad [~$700 Billion], everything else [~$500 Billion])
7) Strong unemployment Believed to still be over 10%, official numbers only count those getting benefits which is ~5%.


To be a recession you must have 6 months of negative economic growth.
http://www.bbc.com/news/business-32931189