Economic Growth Update: It Still Sucks 3.67K Jim Newell 04/28/11 11:16AM Filed to: Briefly Briefly bad news Economy Gdp Economic growth shutterstock GDP grew an anemic 1.8% in the first quarter of 2011. To blame: The ten million snowstorms that slowed construction and closed businesses, rising commodity prices, decreased government spending, and the failure of the American experiment in general.