As bad as the 2.9% contraction in the US economy in the first quarter was, it could have been worse. The private economy shrank 3.3% and it was bolstered but a 3.2% growth pace in the Federal government.
The government is a much smaller part of the economy so that growth only added slightly to the GDP report. The major drag was business services, according to Commerce Dept data analyzed by the WSJ.
US GDP by sector
