U.S. GDP Fell 0.7% in First Quarter
Source: The Wall Street Journal.
Economy
U.S. GDP Fell 0.7% in First Quarter
Harsh weather and a strong dollar sapped demand for American goods
By Josh Mitchell And Jeffrey Sparshott
joshua.mitchell@wsj.com
@JMitchellWSJ
Jeffrey.Sparshott@wsj.com
@jeffsparshott
May 29, 2015 8:32 a.m. ET
WASHINGTON—The U.S. economy contracted early this year as harsh weather and a strong dollar sapped demand for American goods, underscoring the choppiness of an expansion that has struggled to lift off.
Gross domestic product, the broadest sum of goods and services produced across the economy, shrank at a 0.7% seasonally adjusted annual rate in the first quarter, the Commerce Department said Friday. The agency previously estimated output grew 0.2% from January through March.
....
Business investment—reflecting spending on construction, machinery, and research and development—fell at a 2.8% pace. That was the biggest decline since late 2009. The agency had initially said it fell 3.4%. ... Companies also spent less on restocking their shelves than previously thought, a big factor leading to the downward revision in overall GDP.
Exports declined 7.6%, further than the prior estimate of a 7.2% drop. Exports of goods fell by 14%, the most in six years.
Read more: http://www.wsj.com/articles/u-s-gdp-fell-0-7-in-first-quarter-1432902722
The first quarter GDP report is not particularly upbeat.
As always, here's the link to the source. The quoted material scratches the surface; there's additional material galore at the linked website.
Please don't pay too much attention to one number, consider the trend, look both ways before crossing the street, etc.
National Income and Product Accounts; Gross Domestic Product: First Quarter 2015 (Second Estimate); Corporate Profits: First Quarter 2015 (Preliminary Estimate)
BEA 15-21
[color=red]* See the navigation bar at the right side of the news release text for links to data tables, contact personnel and their telephone numbers, and supplementary materials.[/color]
Lisa Mataloni: (202) 606-5304 (GDP) gdpniwd@bea.gov
Kate Pinard: (202) 606-5564 (Profits) cpniwd@bea.gov
Jeannine Aversa: (202) 606-2649 (News Media)
National Income and Product Accounts
Gross Domestic Product: First Quarter 2015 (Second Estimate)
Corporate Profits: First Quarter 2015 (Preliminary Estimate)
Real gross domestic product -- the value of the production of goods and services in the United States, adjusted for price changes -- decreased at an annual rate of 0.7 percent in the first quarter of 2015, according to the "second" estimate released by the Bureau of Economic Analysis. In the fourth quarter, real GDP increased 2.2 percent.
The GDP estimate released today is based on more complete source data than were available for the "advance" estimate issued last month. In the advance estimate, real GDP increased 0.2 percent. With the second estimate for the first quarter, imports increased more and private inventory investment increased less than previously estimated (for more information, see "Revisions" on page 3).
The decrease in real GDP in the first quarter primarily reflected negative contributions from exports, nonresidential fixed investment, and state and local government spending that were partly offset by positive contributions from personal consumption expenditures (PCE), private inventory investment, and residential fixed investment. Imports, which are a subtraction in the calculation of GDP, increased.
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Real exports of goods and services decreased 7.6 percent in the first quarter,* in contrast to an increase of 4.5 percent in the fourth. Real imports of goods and services increased 5.6 percent, compared with an increase of 10.4 percent.
....
Next release -- June 24, 2015 at 8:30 A.M. EDT for:
Gross Domestic Product: First Quarter 2015 (Third Estimate)
Corporate Profits: First Quarter 2015 (Revised Estimate)
* Hat tip, Josh Mitchell's Twitter account
Exports of goods fell by the most since early 2009. Business investment dived at fastest since late 2009.
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