On the left, the bar chart shows the U.S. real GDP year-over-year growth, along with the 10-year and 50-year average. Economic growth is a key component to corporate earnings growth and its strength and weakness also influences the U.S. Federal Reserve's monetary policy. This chart also shows that recessions in the U.S. are typically short, but sharp.

The right chart is the breakdown of the various components' contribution to GDP in more recent quarters. Consumption, except during early quarters of the COVID outbreak in 2020, usually contributes positively to GDP, while investments and net exports are more volatile, and often are what swing GDP into positive or negative territory.