U.S. Economy Shrank 6.2% Last Quarter, Most Since ’82

It should be well noted that the figure of 6.2% is an annualized rate. Although this shows us in a significant recession, our economy is doing much better than many others.

Because we do not have an export-based economy, we are not as vulnerable to the economic cycle as some economies like Japan. Japan's annualized change in GDP was -12.7% for the fourth quarter.