The U.S. economy did indeed shrink in 2020

Segments From This Episode

• U.S. GDP got a slight bump at the end of 2020, but it was the worst reading for the year since the end of WWII

  Diane Swonk, chief economist at Grant Thornton, said we saw only a 4% increase in the last quarter of 2020. “And the slowdown we saw at the end of the year was driven by a slowdown in consumer spending,” Swonk said. “The loss at grocery stores, we know, was showing up in those long food lines as people went hungry and their savings from the CARES Act ran out.” Despite growth in the last two quarters for which we have data, Swonk said we’re still recession territory with the employment picture as bad or worse than the heights of the Great Recession.

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• Apple set to change privacy notifications protocol for apps tracking users in "early spring"

  Marketplace’s Nova Safo has more.

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• Some businesses may struggle to follow Biden’s “Buy American” rules

  by Andy Uhler

  

  Certain products have been outsourced for so long that finding a domestic supplier could be tough, one business owner said.

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