Bucking recession label, gross domestic product inches up

Gross domestic product, the broadest measure of goods and services, grew just 0.6% the first three months of the year, but that's enough to cast doubts on whether the economy is in recession.

The Commerce Department's GDP report, issued Wednesday, is its first cut at measuring economic activity in the USA.

Many economists expected GDP to be negative. A USA TODAY survey of 52 top economists, released Tuesday, showed that two-thirds of them thought the economy was in recession, informally defined as two consecutive quarters of negative GDP.

"It suggests we're not falling off a cliff into recession," says Conference Board chief economist Bart van Ark.

Exports, which grew at a 5.5% pace, were one bright spot in the GDP report. The falling value of the dollar makes U.S. goods, such as corn and wheat, cheaper abroad.

Another strong section of the report: ...