Central Perk

joi, 26 iunie 2014

Video: She Wrote a Letter to the President. Now She’s Meeting Him.

Featured

She Wrote a Letter to the President. Now She's Meeting Him.

Every day, the Office of Presidential Correspondence sorts through thousands of letters. Every night, President Obama reads 10 of them. This past March, Rebekah, a hardworking mom from Minneapolis, wrote the President to share how much harder it's become to get ahead and do the right thing for her family. The President not only set her letter aside -- he decided to go meet Rebekah in person and spend a day in her shoes.

Today, President Obama is traveling to Minnesota to meet Rebekah, kicking off a series of White House summer road trips where he will spend a "day in the life" of everyday Americans, learning about their challenges and struggles to get ahead.

President Obama is excited to talk with Rebekah -- and Americans like her. Watch the President reflect on Rebekah's story and other letters that he reads every day.

Screen Size Matters: Adapting Content Strategy for Multiple Devices

Posted: 25 Jun 2014 05:15 PM PDT

Posted by SimonPenson

The way we consume content is changing at a faster pace than at any time in history.

While the shift from print to digital was seismic from a structural perspective, things have not stopped moving ever since.

The growth of mobile, and now tablet use, is altering the landscape once again and adding a layer of complexity that businesses have never had to deal with before.

Marketers have been talking about a "mobile-first" future for some time now and while I believe that is the wrong way to look at it, there is little arguing against the stats.

Earlier this year, Facebook unveiled blockbuster ad figures that left even the most ardent fans surprised. Revenues of $2.5 billion for the Jan-March quarter were made up, for the first time, by majority mobile-based advertising money in a clear sign of our changing media consumption habits.

It has also made the job of creating a great content strategy that much more complex, and "cracking it" requires a structured approach that begins with an understanding of the way in which we interact with our everyday devices.

Multi-screen usage

Getting to grips with what content to place where and when is the key aspect of the strategy construction process.

One of the best sources of data to inform that is a Google study from 2012, which you can view in full here. In it we learn that there is a clear user journey across devices and at different times of the day.

To create a truly data-informed picture, however, we need information on variables such as:

What device is used, and when, in the day
The order of devices in the classic purchase funnel
Which devices we use to access key content platforms
How long we spend on each device and what we look at on them.

With this knowledge it then makes it much easier to map out the right content.

Creating the Variation

Understanding what people are looking for when using these various devices will help you write, package, and distribute your content across different channels.

Critically, it will also ensure you have the key ingredient in any content strategy: variation.

A varied approach to content creation will not only ensure you entertain and inform your audience in the right way across multiple devices, but you also improve the level at which you retain existing audience and get them coming back for more.

Device use: Timing

The way we interact with the content we consume changes throughout the day.
The chart below, from Google's study, breaks this down simply, explaining that our morning habits push us towards mobile content first thing in the morning, at lunchtimes, and on the way home from work.

We will then spend evenings browsing tablets and working "Simultaneously" (more on this later) with a second screen as we research purchases and spend from the comfort of our living rooms.

The study also makes clear that if you're an ecommerce brand, the tablet is increasingly becoming your number one device in conversion terms, which highlights the need for great responsive site design and content that is easily consumed on such screens.

Great examples of businesses doing this well include Burton.com, a cool snowboard retailer, and United Pixelworkers, which manage to combine great animation with multi-device friendly UX.

The person, NOT the device

While it is clearly critical to get the experience right for each device, the most important element is actually removing the constraints created by this kind of strategy and centering it on the customer once again.

The mobile internet has given the control back to the reader, or customer, and the way they consume content is on their terms.

And with that power back in the hands of those who are buying, as opposed to selling, your content has to be available when and where necessary to be effective.

If your customer cannot access it wherever they are, they will simply find somewhere else to go, and that is highly likely to be a competitor.

Start with the user: personas

To ensure you focus your strategy correctly then you need to start with your client or customer and his means starting with clearly defining a set of content personas.

This is good practice for the wider marketing plan and begins with analysis and segmentation of existing customer data. Outside of that you can begin looking at social data (and a step-by-step guide to doing that can be found in this ebook).

I also spoke recently on the importance of personas in content creation and you can get more background on that process in this post, while Mike King also wrote this indispensible guide to understanding and segmenting your audience here on Moz a few months ago, and that should not be missed as part of this process.

In it there are examples of what you are trying to achieve through this process; a data-informed view on the 1-4 different groups of customers you have.

By being clear on the key details about those you wish to target with content, you can ensure the ideas you create match the needs of the target audience, therefore putting them at the very centre of the process. An example of what this may look like is found below:

Plan for behaviour, not technology

Once you have a clear view of who it is you are targeting, the next piece of the jigsaw is to understand when and where they interact with which particular devices in their daily lives. This data can, and should, be included in the picture you paint for each persona.

General market data can certainly help with this, and what we do know, from key research on the subject, is that we generally use mobile devices at the beginning and end of the day:

When looking at what we then do during those times we can see here, courtesy of a recent study on mobile usage by Salesforce, that a lot of that time is consumed by social media use:

Let's look in a little more detail now at the types of content that work, by device breakdown.

Device use: Content

The type of content we consume on each device varies widely and requires a systematic approach to content production to service well. For instance, you'll want to take into account how much time you actually have to grab and hold a readers' attention.

Let's take a look at how that breaks down below.

Desktop: Keep us productive and informed

Desktop consumption is one of the easiest to cater for, as it is the device we are most used to using and the one that has had the most time for brands to gain experience on.

All content forms work here, but longer form articles really come into their own, as do more interactive experiences.

This is also where you may wish to present richer, interactive content that makes the best use of browser capabilities and larger screen experiences. For example, a particularly rich and interactive product demonstration could be made available for desktop users or an extremely streamlined product catalog could be provided for mobile users who need to make quick comparisons while on the go.

Mobile: Keep us connected

Mobile use peaks at key commuting times and traffic is more focused on small chunk browsing. We utilize our time here looking to catch up on news and social. That said, increasingly we are also using the device to make critical purchases. Only this month figures revealed that a third of all global travel transactions are made on mobile.

And while travel is clearly a sector that will always have high penetration, here it's a telling statistic and a sign of what is to come.

This is where, however, mobile traffic will come in via social posts and so having a responsive site is still critically important. Making it easy for users to float between blog posts and the rest of the site will improve dwell time and content consumption.

The best content for this is bite-sized, easily digestible list based features, image-led posts or news.

It is critical, of course, to ensure the responsive experience is good here and navigation supports touch screen protocols, such as swiping for the next article and includes easy-to-use social sharing functionality.

Instructional content works well here and recipe sites are one of the best examples of how to do this well. A current favourite of mine is the Jamie Oliver site. The use of tabs makes it very easy to switch between ingredients and step-by-steps while thought has also been given to how easy that process is with fingers coated in flour!

Tablet: Keep us entertained

While this segment didn't even exist a couple of years ago it is now a critical part of our everyday lives.

We rely on them for evening and weekend entertainment and because of that we also find ourselves, increasingly, doing lots of research on the device.

It therefore forms a key part of the buying process and is a focus device for those looking to sell something.

We also tend to leave more reviews via tablets than we do other devices, and so ensuring your review platform or experience is responsive is very important.

Device use: Conversion

When planning your content, think about when your consumers might be most 'open' to the various types of content you're delivering and, critically, to the call to action it leads to.

We move between those devices in two main ways:

> Sequentially (moving from one device to another in sequence)

> Simultaneously (using multiple devices at the same time)

With many people starting a search in one place and finishing the activity on another device, it means that your message, design, and overall content experience should be as seamless and consistent as possible.

And given that we do jump around, having the ability to save something for later is also key. In other words, make it easy for people to get back to the same URL, irrespective of which device they are on and that means making sure menu structure is responsive and easy to use.

Structured variation

We know that different devices elicit different behaviours and that our content should still focus on the user but how do you go about planning that in the real world? The answer lies in adding a level of structure to your content plan that allows you to see if you are ticking all the boxes, or not.

That process starts, as most strategic plans should, with questions and when designing the content plan you should always answer the following:

Do I have content to suit each of the personas that make up our customer base?
Have we thought of ideas for every content type relevant to our audience and brand (e.g. ebooks, infographics, articles)?
Do we have ideas that will suit mobile, tablet, and desktop needs?
Have we got a plan for the long tail based on what people are searching for?
Do we know what evergreen content we need and how often we will revisit and improve it?
Is our educational content designed for all Learning Types (e.g. kinetic, auditory, etc.)?
Does your content and story translate to other platforms? For example, games, with good content or stories, can deliver more engagement.

The answers to all of the above should be yes BEFORE you attempt to pull the plan together. If it isn't, loop back around and ensure you brainstorm ideas to fill that gap.

The key, therefore, to ensuring you have the right mix of content is to take a structured approach to idea creation (a subject I have written about in the past for Moz).

If you have such a system in place that covers devices, along with an understanding of what kind of content works best on those devices, then you are in a great place.

The next step is to organize a calendar that is both realistic and structured to produce the right content flow. Getting it right will keep your audience both entertained and absorbed to improve engagement and return visits.

Testing the strategy

The process for creating content strategy is actually quite straightforward. As with anything, however, to do something well requires experience and skill.

To ensure you have the right balance of content for multi-device consumption you must first audit your existing site.

To do this you need to be able to extract a list of relevant content from the site to an Excel document and categorize by the device that content would be primarily consumed on. You can do this easily by classifying each piece based on the basic rules we explained earlier in the post around what we most use mobile, tablet and desktop for.

In reality there is little point in gathering every single piece of content you have. The only content that really matters are those pieces being viewed on a monthly, or at least quarterly, basis. And where do you find those? Within Analytics.

The best way of doing this is as follows:

Go to your Google Analytics account.
Set the date range. This should be at least six months but preferably longer.
Go from Dashboard > Behaviour > Site Content > Landing Pages
The next stage is to add a Secondary Dimension. You do this by selecting the dimension dropdown, shown below, and finding Device Category within the Users segment.
The next stage is selecting the number of landing pages you want to extract. The 'right' number here depends on the size of your site, but a good guide is to find the point at which there have been at least 10 visits to the page within the last six months. Use this as a cut-off point.
Download that data in CSV or Excel by using the Export feature below.

Once you have a sense for what you do have it becomes very obvious where the focus should be in terms of devices. You can then simply front-load any ongoing creation strategy with those ideas to balance out the overall offering.

What is critical, however, is the ability to be able to then measure ongoing creation to ensure you get that balance right in the future, and to do that requires a little more work in Excel.

As you want to be creating content equally for all devices, you are looking for a constant flow of ideas, designed for each one. Testing this can be done in two ways; you can either create an editorial planner template that includes space specifically where you can record "by device" (and here's one we made earlier for you!) or you can assign a number to each device and chart the 'flow' of content over time, a little like this:

To create this is a very simple process. I'm no Excel wizard and always prefer to make things as simple as possible as opposed to complicating without reason, and so here's one way of doing it quickly:

Assign a number to each device. For this example Mobile is "1," Tablet is "2," and Desktop "3." Create a chart in Excel where the X-axis is "Time" (by week is best) and the Y-axis is numbered 1-3.

Take your existing content strategy and replace titles or ideas with those numbers, so you end up with a list of dates and numbers, as you see from the screenshot above.
Now simply turn this into a chart by highlighting the two columns of data and using the "Chart" option in Excel. Within this, select "line graph" and the program will then create the chart for you.

What you are looking for here is something that closely resembles a heart monitor with "peaks" and "troughs." This is clearly a generalist view as your business may be much more focused on mobile, for instance, in which case you should have fewer spikes in a chart that may look like this:

By moving content around you will be able to create the perfect strategy for your brand and also ensure that you are not missing a key opportunity in the process.

Sign up for The Moz Top 10, a semimonthly mailer updating you on the top ten hottest pieces of SEO news, tips, and rad links uncovered by the Moz team. Think of it as your exclusive digest of stuff you don't have time to hunt down but want to read!

Why and How To Create Great Content: Part 1

Posted: 26 Jun 2014 12:00 AM PDT

As a frequent attendee at SEO conferences in the UK, I’m used to hearing a lot of talks that follow a similar theme: ‘create great content’. It’s uttered so much that it has basically just become a string of buzzwords (can I call this a buzzphrase?) that exist to provide attendees like me with a ‘key takeaway’ from the event.

Here’s the issue

But there’s a problem. I’m finding that I’m not really taking anything away from these conferences other than a growing frustration that some talks simply do not delve into WHY or HOW creating great content should be done. That’s why I’m on a quest to find the answers I need in order to actually deliver something of value to my clients. In fact, there is a whole team of us here who are working towards the same thing, and we’re coming on in leaps and bounds.

What I’m doing about it

I’m doing this by stepping outside of my comfort zone, and by identifying opportunities where I can truly learn something new, or develop skills that I’ve started to build. In fact, just last week I headed to a classroom at General Assembly (London, UK) for a three hour content marketing workshop where I joined a group of other enthusiastic creative types to iron out the processes that should be used in the art of content strategy and creation.

Why I’m doing it

Coming from a journalism background, there is part of me that always wants to jump ahead to the end result – the juicy content that everyone wants to read. Yet I’m older and wiser now, and I know that in the world of marketing, the planning stages make a huge difference. Of course there are deadlines to meet just like in journalism, but many marketing campaigns are done over a much longer period, meaning that content must be sustainable.

That is why my colleagues and I are keen to be the best that we can be, and why we continue our education to create excellent assets for our clients. That’s a big part of working here at White; we spend 20 percent of our time each week on our personal development, which then positively influences the way we approach campaigns with our clients.

Is it working?

I won’t say that I know everything about content creation and strategy, but as a business we’ve had some really encouraging feedback on our recent projects and pitches. This all stems from the planning stage I mentioned before, something which I am happy to explain in more detail in part two of this blog post.

I’ll be delving deeper into why and how to create great content, which will outline many of the things I have learned over the past few months. So make sure to head back here in a couple of weeks to see whether you can take something away that is more than just a vague buzzphrase… I’ll be revealing the processes we use that really help to make a difference in a content led campaign.

The post Why and How To Create Great Content: Part 1 appeared first on White.net.

Seth's Blog : Self assurance checklist for the anxious traveler

Self assurance checklist for the anxious traveler

Travel has always meant possibility and change, and for some people, that means anxiety. Add to this non-refundable fares, tight connections and security theater courtesy of the TSA, and it's easy for the fun to turn into a literal nightmare.

There are people who will tell you to just get over it and enjoy travelling, but for some people, the real benefit happens if they can eliminate the things that trigger the biggest issues.

Some prophylactic measures to consider, extreme steps to transform your internal dialogue:

Five days before you travel, lay out everything you intend to bring with you, all in a special section of your room.
You're not going to be checking bags (that's my dad's first law of travel), so, first, relentlessly trim what you laid out. Second, if it still won't fit in a manageable, small, wheeled bag, ship it ahead of time. Get the name of the person at the bell desk at your hotel, and ship the things you can't live without via UPS or Fedex Ground. Track them and you'll know that they've arrived before you even leave.
Take a photo of everything you intend to pack, all laid out on the floor. In addition to helping you file a claim for some reason, the big bonus is that you never have to worry about whether or not you packed something, because you have a photo of everything you packed, on your phone.
While you're at it, go ahead and get a duplicate of your favorite pillow. Ship it ahead. No, we're not moving in, we're not staying at this hotel forever, and no, it's not the way easygoing travelers do it. But hey, you're not an easygoing traveler, and getting a good night's sleep is worth the few dollars it's going to cost you to add a pillow to the box.
Make a written checklist of everything you're going to do the day you depart. Include, for example, the phone number of the car service, checking the oven light and watering the plants. If it's written down, you don't have to keep it in your active memory so you won't forget it. And once you make the list, you can use it again and again, improving it as you go.
Get your boarding pass the day before. I think every airline offers this now. Get it as a printout, not on your phone, because a printout is easy to check off and put next to your passport, more peace of mind. Print a few copies, why not?
Use Yelp to find a restaurant within 4 miles of the airport. Go there for a meal a few hours before the flight is scheduled to leave. You'd feel stupid getting to the airport three hours early, but having a delicious bowl of tom yum three hours before feels just fine, and then you can completely forget about the issue of traffic.
While on Yelp, check out the neighborhood where you are staying. My guess is that they have stores! Remind yourself that if you need a bobbin or a notion or even a toiletry, you'll probably have no trouble picking one up.
When you park your car, put the parking ticket in your ashtray. After you lock the door, take a picture of where you parked, and email the picture to a friend. No worries about finding the car or the ticket later.
You're thinking of bringing more stuff and checking it. Don't. See #2. Only bring the smallest amount of stuff with you, no giant bags to argue about fitting in the overhead and such.
If you travel with people who get all uptight when they go through security, don't go through security with them. Let them go five minutes before you, and you'll have no issues.
Your favorite necklace that's really hard to take off that freaks out the security machines? Leave it at home. And those boots with 100 laces? Leave all of it at home.
You know that scrum to get on the plane first? Skip it. You have very little luggage, and you can just sit there and relax. No prize for getting on first.
You know that scrum to get off the plane first? Skip it. Particularly people who have trouble wrestling their bags, or racing down the aisle or who might need a wheelchair at the gate. Just let everyone else get off first while you take two minutes to check the email on your phone. No prize for getting off first.

So, there you go. For just a little extra cash and just a little extra time spent, you've eliminated fourteen of the things that get people all stressed in their rush to force reality to match their expectations (or to keep reality from matching their fears).

A bonus: Some people get peace of mind by hiring a car service to meet them at their destination. This always messes me up, because there's the hassle of figuring out where to meet the driver (upstairs? downstairs? which door?). I prefer the random access approach of finding a cab, but highly recommend you have Uber loaded and ready on your phone before you leave. It really does transform the way people travel. (Here's a free ride promo they're running for new users).

And another bonus: the now legendary wrinkle-free packing hack.

Have a good trip.

• Email to a friend •

miercuri, 25 iunie 2014

Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis

Truly Inane Bloomberg Analysis On Gold
"Three Es Suggest Massive Change is Upon Us" Chris Martenson's Accelerated Crash Course
Diving Into the GDP Report of -2.9% Growth

Truly Inane Bloomberg Analysis On Gold

Posted: 25 Jun 2014 01:41 PM PDT

Bad economic analysis abounds. Some of it is so bad you wonder if the authors understand how any markets work, not just the topic of discussion.

For example, please consider Gold Euphoria Won't Last With Yellen's Rally Fading, a truly remarkable exercise because it took three Bloomberg writers to produce.

Here are some snips, followed by my comments.

After the biggest gold slump in three decades left investors heartbroken, they're following Taylor Swift's advice and never, ever getting back together.

Janet Yellen, the one person able to make the lovers reconcile, did her best. Prices surged the most since September the day after the Fed chair signaled last week that low interest rates are here to stay. Traders and analysts surveyed by Bloomberg News aren't expecting the euphoria to last.

For starters, there is no euphoria in gold. Arguably, one of the best measures of sentiment on gold is articles like the one above.

Here is a look at Yellen's "Fading Rally".

Yellen's Rally Fading

Supposedly it makes sense to discuss "gold's fading rally" but not countless other "fading rallies" some of which are actually fading.

Apple's Fading Rally

Let's march on.

Prices will average $1,250 an ounce next quarter, about 5 percent less than now, according to the median of 15 estimates. The analysts were surveyed before and after the Fed's June 18 outlook, and the forecast was unchanged. Even after a 28 percent plunge in 2013, the bears are emboldened by this year's records in equity markets, and gold assets in exchange-traded products have shrunk to the smallest since 2009.

Hmm... As another measure of alleged euphoria, please note "gold assets in exchange-traded products have shrunk to the smallest since 2009".

Also note that the median forecast is for another plunge, on top of the reported 28% plunge in 2013!

Is that euphoria or extreme pessimism?

By the way, since when are median expectations of analysts anything to believe?

"The surge in gold can't sustain itself," Donald Selkin, who helps manage about $3 billion of assets as chief market strategist at National Securities Corp. in New York, said June 20. "It was a temporary spike because of a confluence of events: Iraq and Yellen. People will be looking at other areas for excitement. Holdings are down, so people are leaving gold in search of something better."

How Markets Work

Curiously, Selkin helps manage $3 billion but does not seem to understand how markets work.

People are not "leaving gold".

It is in fact impossible to leave gold, or any other asset for that matter, short of dumping it in the ocean.

With any financial asset, someone always has to hold it. If I sell gold, someone else has to buy it. If I sell shares of Microsoft, someone else has to buy them. The same is true with cash. Every cent the Fed prints has to be held by someone.

Selkin does not understand the driving force for gold, the reasons to own it, and apparently how markets work in general.

American buying is slowing. Sales of American Eagle gold coins by the U.S. Mint totaled 252,500 ounces this year, 60 percent less than in the first six months of last year and the lowest for the period since 2008, data on its website show.

Hedge funds are holding a net-long position of 66,572 futures and options contracts, U.S. government data show. That's down 52 percent since this year's peak in March.

Mint sales are down 60% and hedge funds holding futures holdings are down 52%.

Euphoria or pessimism? You make the call.

What the Future Hold

I do not know the future price of gold, nor does anyone else. But I do know the fundamental drivers as well as the reasons to hold gold. And neither of those has changed.

I also know truly inane economic reporting when I see it, and the Bloomberg article quoted above is a perfect example.

For further discussion, please see Plague of Gold Bears Now Say "Gold Unsafe at Any Price"; What's the Real Long-Term Driver for Gold?

Mike "Mish" Shedlock
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com

"Three Es Suggest Massive Change is Upon Us" Chris Martenson's Accelerated Crash Course

Posted: 25 Jun 2014 12:38 PM PDT

Chris Martenson at Peak Prosperity put together a condensed version of his 4.5-hour long Crash Course Video Series.

The condensed version is just under an hour long, and it's well worth your time to play it.

The video is not about an "economic crash" per se, although Chris and I both think one is highly likely.

Rather, Chris analyzes "The Three Es" (Economy, Energy, and Environment) to highlight serious problems in assumed Exponential Growth, an "E" that neither of us believes likely.

Here is a link to the Accelerated Crash Course Transcript.

Mike "Mish" Shedlock
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com

Diving Into the GDP Report of -2.9% Growth

Posted: 25 Jun 2014 11:22 AM PDT

The first quarter GDP initial projection was 0.1%. The second estimate came in at -1.0%. Today the third estimate came in at -2.9%.

Gosh, first quarter weather was far worse than anyone realized.

Let's dive into the First Quarter 2014 Third Estimate from the BEA for some weather-details.

Real GDP declined 2.9 percent in the first quarter, after increasing 2.6 percent in the fourth. The downturn reflected a downturn in exports, a larger decrease in private inventory investment, a deceleration in PCE, and downturns in nonresidential fixed investment and in state and local government spending, partly offset by an upturn in federal government spending.

Prices

The price index for gross domestic purchases, which measures prices paid by U.S. residents, increased 1.3 percent in the first quarter, the same increase as in the second estimate; this index increased 1.5 percent in the fourth quarter. Excluding food and energy prices, the price index for gross domestic purchases increased 1.3 percent in the first quarter, compared with an increase of 1.8 percent in the fourth.

Components

Real personal consumption expenditures increased 1.0 percent in the first quarter, compared with an increase of 3.3 percent in the fourth.
Durable goods increased 1.2 per cent, compared with an increase of 2.8 percent.
Nondurable goods decreased 0.3 percent, in contrast to an increase of 2.9 percent. Services increased 1.5 percent, compared with an increase of 3.5 percent.
Real nonresidential fixed investment decreased 1.2 percent in the first quarter, in contrast to an increase of 5.7 percent in the fourth. Nonresidential structures decreased 7.7 percent, compared with a decrease of 1.8 percent. Equipment decreased 2.8 percent, in contrast to an increase of 10.9 percent.
Intellectual property products increased 6.3 percent, compared with an increase of 4.0 percent.
Real residential fixed investment decreased 4.2 percent, compared with a decrease of 7.9 percent.
Real exports of goods and services decreased 8.9 percent in the first quarter, in contrast to an increase of 9.5 percent in the fourth.
Real imports of goods and services increased 1.8 percent, compared with an increase of 1.5 percent.
Real federal government consumption expenditures and gross investment increased 0.6 percent in the first quarter, in contrast to a decrease of 12.8 percent in the fourth. National defense decreased 2.5 percent, compared with a decrease of 14.4 percent. Nondefense increased 5.9 percent, in contrast to a decrease of 10.0 percent.
Real state and local government consumption expenditures and gross investment decreased 1.7 percent; it was unchanged in the fourth quarter.
The change in real private inventories subtracted 1.70 percentage points from the first-quarter change in real GDP , after subtracting 0.02 percentage point from the fourth-quarter change.
Private businesses increased inventories $45.9 billion in the first quarter, following increases of $111.7 billion in the fourth quarter and $115.7 billion in the third. Real final sales of domestic product -- GDP less change in private inventories -- decreased 1.3 percent in the first quarter, in contrast to an increase of 2.7 percent in the fourth.

Income

Real gross domestic income (GDI), which measures the output of the economy as the costs incurred and the incomes earned in the production of GDP, decreased 2.6 percent in the first quarter, in contrast to an increase of 2.6 percent in the fourth . For a given quarter, the estimates of GDP and GDI may differ for a variety of reasons, including the incorporation of largely independent source data. However, over longer time spans, the estimates of GDP and GDI tend to follow similar patterns of change.

Key Item Synopsis

Exports (which add to GDP) were down 8.9%.
Imports (which subtract from GDP) were up 1.8%.
Durable goods were up 1.2%
Nonresidential fixed investment decreased 1.2%
Consumer prices rose 1.3%.
Federal spending was up 0.6%
Personal spending was up 1.0%.

GDP and GDI match over time. GDP was down 2.9% while GDI was down 2.6%. Take your choice. The numbers are awful.

Clearly the weather was far worse than anyone imagined.

Mike "Mish" Shedlock
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com