By CountingPips.com
The U.S. economy contracted in the first quarter of 2009 by 5.7 percent according to the latest release by the U.S. Commerce Department. The preliminary estimate report released today showed that the U.S. Gross Domestic Product was better than the advance estimate released in April that registered a 6.1 percent fall in the 
January to March quarter. Real GDP fell by 6.3 percent in the fourth quarter of 2008. Today’s GDP numbers surpassed the 5.5 percent contraction that the economic forecasts were expecting for the first quarter and marked the first time since the 1974-1975 period that GDP has shrunk for three quarters in a row.
Contributing to the decreased GDP for the fourth quarter were declines in business inventories, exports and housing. Exports declined sharply in the quarter as exports of goods and services decreased by 28.7 percent after falling by 23.6 percent in the fourth quarter.
On the positive side, consumer spending, which makes up approximately two-thirds of U.S. economic activity, increased in the first quarter by 1.5 percent after decreasing sharply in the previous two quarters.
Forex – U.S. dollar declines in Forex Trading.
The U.S. dollar has been falling in forex trading today against the major currencies. The dollar has declined versus the euro, British pound, Canadian dollar, Australian dollar, New Zealand dollar, Swiss franc and the Japanese yen.
The euro has advanced versus the USD for the second day as the EUR/USD trades at 1.4136 in the afternoon of the US trading session at 3:21pm EST after opening the day at 1.3983 according to currency data from Oanda.
The British pound has climbed today as the GBP/USD trades at 1.6142 after opening the day at 1.5962.
The dollar has lost ground against the Japanese yen today as the USD/JPY has decreased from its 95.19 opening to trading at 97.67.
The dollar has fallen against the Canadian dollar after opening at 1.1116 earlier today to trading at 1.0939 later. Meanwhile, the USD has also declined against the Swiss franc as the USD/CHF has gone from 1.0809 to trading at 1.0678.
The Australian dollar has gained for the second day in a row versus the USD as the AUD/USD trades at 0.7994 after opening today at 0.7873 while the New Zealand dollar has also increased versus the USD as the NZD/USD trades at 0.6385 after opening the day’s trading at 0.6259.
USD/CAD Chart – The US Dollar falling sharply today versus the Canadian Dollar in Forex Trading and the USD/CAD is trading at its lowest level since September 2008.
