Bloomberg News reports, "The U.S. economy shrank the most since 1982 in the fourth quarter as consumer spending recorded the worst slide in the postwar era, a trajectory that’s likely to continue in coming months," according to the Commerce Department's latest report. Spending fell 3.8% in the last quarter, which is actually better than forecast; some think the number will be revised and apparently it would have fallen 5.1% if not for "unsold inventory" building up. Analysts tell CNBC that this first quarter of 2009 "will probably turn out to be the worst quarter for the recession," so brace yourselves.