Contrary to What You Read in the WaPo, Weather Actually Sped Growth in First Quarter

The Washington Post's article on first quarter GDP growth wrongly told readers that unusually warm weather slowed GDP growth in the first quarter. The rationale was that this lead to a decline in the use of electricity and heating compared with a normal winter, which meant less output. While I noted this fact in my own write-up of the GDP report, the drop in energy usage was more than offset by an increase in construction that was made possible by the mild weather.

Residency and non-residency...