Stagflation Returns as the Economy Shrinks
The U.S. economy shrank at a rate of 1.4% in the first quarter of 2022, reflecting a huge rise in America's trade deficit. The trade deficit ballooned massively, due to mushrooming imports. American exports decreased by 9.6%, while imports grew by 17.7%. Economists had predicted a 1% economic growth rate, rather than the decline in the economy that actually occurred.