We take a break from the low volatility chart-fest to present today’s ChOTD: Quarterly U.S. Real GDP (Un)Growth. Contrary to most mainstream media pundits and bank-employed economists, we could not ignore today’s print.

Real GDP declined at an annual rate of -2.96% in the 1st quarter of 2014. That is the first negative print in 3 years and the worst in 5 years, since the end of the financial crisis. Furthermore, historically the worst print ever that was not accompanied by a recession was the 1st quarter of 1956 when GDP fell -1.54%. Last quarter’s print was almost twice as bad as that.

Even accounting for whatever agenda or bias anchors their actions, the outright dismissal of this GDP print by talking media heads and economists surprises us. The first quarter is ancient history, they say. Well, considering the original 1Q GDP estimate was +2.6%, one would think they could at least offer passing acknowledgement that economic “growth” may be weaker than they thought (and may possibly be in upcoming quarters as well)?

[Update: Here is a table of the 25 worst Qtr GDP prints in U.S. history…see if you can spot the outlier]: