The U.S. economy shrank in the first three months of the year, and faces threats from high inflation and rising interest rates.
According to media reports, the first quarterly decline in the gross domestic product since the pandemic hit in 2020, a 1.4 percent drop on an annualized basis.
On other hand, rising wages bolstered spending by households and higher profits drove investment by companies.
The job market also remains robust, with the unemployment rate near a 50-year low of 3.6 percent, and wages rising steadily. Last month, prices jumped 8.5 percent from a year earlier, the fastest such rise in four decades.
