Two Economic Articles Both Summarized by CNBC
Article 1: https://www.cnbc.com/2025/04/30/gdp-q1-2025-.html
The U.S. economy shrank by 0.3% in the first quarter of 2025, sparking recession concerns as President Donald Trump’s second term begins amid escalating trade tensions. This unexpected contraction, reported by the Commerce Department, contrasts sharply with economists’ forecasts for 0.4% growth and marks a steep decline from the 2.4% GDP gain in late 2024. A key driver was a massive 41.3% surge in imports — as businesses and consumers rushed to beat Trump’s new tariffs — which slashed more than five percentage points from GDP, though some analysts see this as a temporary hit that could reverse in coming quarters. While exports edged up 1.8%, consumer spending growth cooled to 1.8%, the slowest pace since mid-2023, though private domestic investment jumped an impressive 21.9%.
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Article 2: https://www.cnbc.com/2025/04/30/adp-jobs-report-april-2025.html
U.S. companies slowed hiring sharply in April, adding just 62,000 private sector jobs — the smallest increase since July 2024 — as businesses grew cautious amid rising uncertainty over President Trump’s tariffs on key trading partners. The figure fell well short of economists’ expectations of 120,000 and marked a steep drop from March’s revised 147,000 jobs. While sectors like leisure and hospitality (+27,000), trade, transportation and utilities (+21,000), financial activities (+20,000), and construction (+16,000) saw gains, education and health services lost 23,000 positions and information services shed 8,000 jobs, highlighting uneven job market conditions. The report serves as a preview to the upcoming Bureau of Labor Statistics’ payroll data, expected to show 133,000 new jobs and an unchanged 4.2% unemployment rate.
