Despite the rising unemployment claims, the size of the first quarter contraction continues to drop. So, apparently it wasn’t quite as bad as initially reported, at least, if you actually take the GDP numbers without a grain of salt.
| Quarter | Adv | Pre | Final | Rev | Annual |
| 2009 Q1 | -6.1 | -5.7 | -5.5 | — | 2008 Q4 | -3.8 | -6.2 | -6.2 | -6.3 | 1.1 (1.3) | 2008 Q3 | -0.3 | -0.5 | -0.3 | -0.5 |
| 2008 Q2 | 1.9 | 3.3 | 2.8 | 2.8 | 2008 Q1 | 0.6 | 0.9 | 1.0 | 0.9 |
| 2007 Q4 | 0.6 | 0.6 | 0.6 | -0.2 | 2.0 |
| 2007 Q3 | 3.9 | 4.9 | 3.9 | 4.8 | |
| 2007 Q2 | 3.4 | 4.0 | 3.8 | 4.8 | |
| 2007 Q1 | 1.2 | 0.5 | 0.6 | 0.1 | |
| 2006 Q4 | 3.5 | 2.2 | 2.5 | 1.5 | 2.8 |
| 2005 Q4 | 1.1 | 1.6 | 1.7 | 1.3 | 2.9 |
| 2004 Q4 | 3.1 | 3.8 | 3.8 | 2.4 | 3.6 |