Hot off the wires, the US contraction is larger than expected.

Gross domestic product contracted at a 6.2 percent annual pace from October through December, more than economists anticipated and the most since 1982, according to revised figures from the Commerce Department today in Washington. Consumer spending, which comprises about 70 percent of the economy, declined at the fastest pace in almost three decades.

The annual decline in the previous quarter was much smaller (0.5 percent), so here’s hoping that this is data on the worst quarter. It may not be, though.