GDP Rose At 3.2% Rate In First Quarter; Third Straight Increase

"Real gross domestic product -- the output of goods and services produced by labor and property located in the United States -- increased at an annual rate of 3.2 percent in the first quarter of 2010," the Bureau of Economic Analysis just reported.

That followed growth at a 5.6% annual rate in fourth-quarter 2009. And, it marks the third straight quarter that GDP has grown.

(The first quarter figure will be revised each of the next two months; so watch for what will likely be at least slight changes in the estimate as BEA incorporates more data.)

Officially, the economy slipped into recession in December 2007 and the private National Bureau of Economic Research (the arbiter of recessions and recoveries) has not yet declared the recession over. It looks at many indicators, including employment, consumer spending and production. But three straight quarters of good GDP news will add to the evidence that a recovery is underway, even if unemployment remains relatively high at 9.7%.

Planet Money explains the economic and financial news here.