US Q1 GDP Growth Confirmed at 3.1%

The US economy grew by an annualized 3.1 percent in the first quarter of 2019, unrevised from the second estimate issued last month and following a 2.2 percent expansion in the previous three-month period. Upward revisions to nonresidential fixed investment, exports, state and local government spending, and residential fixed investment were offset by downward revisions to personal consumption expenditures (PCE) and inventory investment and an upward revision to imports. GDP Growth Rate in the United States averaged 3.22 percent from 1947 until 2019, reaching an all time high of 16.70 percent in the first quarter of 1950 and a record low of -10 percent in the first quarter of 1958.

The US economy grew by an annualized 3.1 percent in the first quarter of 2019, unrevised from the second estimate and following a 2.2 percent expansion in the previous three-month period. Nonresidential and residential fixed investment, exports and imports, and state and local government spending were revised higher while personal consumption expenditures and inventory investment came in lower than initially reported.

Positive contributions came from exports (0.65 percentage points), personal consumption expenditures (0.62 percentage points), nonresidential fixed investment (0.61 percentage points), private inventory investment (0.55 percentage points), and state and local government spending (0.48 percentage points). Imports, which are a subtraction in the calculation of GDP, decreased, posting a positive contribution of 0.30 percentage points. These contributions were partly offset by a decreasein residential fixed investment (-0.08 percentage points).

State and local government spending surged 4.6 percent during the first quarter, reversing a 1.3 percent contraction in the previous three-month period. In addition, private inventory investment accelerated and exports jumped 5.4 percent (vs 1.8 percent in Q4), boosted by sales of goods (6.0 percent vs 1.2 percent) and services (4.4 percent vs 2.7 percent); while imports dropped 1.9 percent (vs 2.0 percent in Q4) due to lower purchases of goods (-3.3 percent vs 0.5 percent).

These movements were partly offset by a deceleration in PCE (0.9 percent vs 2.5 percent).

The price index for gross domestic purchases increased 0.8 percent in the first quarter, compared with an increase of 1.7 percent in the fourth quarter. The PCE price index increased 0.5 percent, compared with an increase of 1.5 percent. Excluding food and energy prices, the PCE price index increased 1.2 percent, compared with an increase of 1.8 percent.

https://tradingeconomics.com/united-states/gdp-growth