Examining 1st Quarter GDP; Soft Growth and Jump in Claims Reinforces USD Negative Sentiment

The first (advance) release of US 1st quarter GDP showed the annualized rate at 1.8%, which for the most part matched economists forecasts. That's about a 0.45% quarter-on-quarter rate, which is lower than what we saw from even the United Kingdom, which grew 0.5% q/q.