The Economy : Gross National Product Revised Down

Indicator: First-quarter gross national product figure, which tracks the country’s total output of goods and services.

What it did: The GNP was revised down to 2.8% in the January-March quarter from a 2.6% estimated decline a month ago.

What it means: The government blamed the weaker GNP showing on an even bigger drop in consumer spending than previously believed and a larger rate of inventory liquidation by businesses. The economy contracted at an annual rate of 1.6% in the October-December quarter, thus meeting the classic definition of a recession as two consecutive quarterly declines in the GNP.

Highlights: Analysts said the bigger drawdown of inventories in the first quarter could turn out to be a positive factor for the second quarter as businesses, seeing signs of a pickup in demand, move more quickly to increase production.

GNP Percent change from previous quarter 1st quarter (revised): -2.8% Source: Commerce Department