One of the untold stories of this expansion has been the strength of US exports, which have rebounded above pre-recession levels.
The year over year percentage change in exports shows that after a sharp rebound from low levels, exports showed strong year over year gains until the end of 2011. But while the pace has decreased, it is still positive.
The above chart shows Q/Q percentage change in GDP, along with the contributions from exports (red bar) and net exports (green bar). notice the following.
1.) Coming out of the recession, net exports were very strong.
2.) The overall effect of net exports (exports minus imports) has been far less than you'd think and occurred largely at the beginning of the recovery.
