Home » GDP increased at rate of 1.9 percent in first quarter

GDP increased at rate of 1.9 percent in first quarter

WASHINGTON (May 31, 2012) — Real gross domestic product — the output of goods and services produced by labor and property located in the United States — increased at an annual rate of 1.9 percent in the first quarter of 2012 (that is, from the fourth quarter to the first quarter), according to the “second” estimate released by the Bureau of Economic Analysis. In the fourth quarter of 2011, real GDP increased 3.0 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, the increase in real GDP was 2.2 percent.

The increase in real GDP in the first quarter primarily reflected positive contributions from personal consumption expenditures (PCE), exports, residential fixed investment, private inventory investment and non-residential fixed investment that were partly offset by negative contributions from federal government spending and state and local government spending. Imports, which are a subtraction in the calculation of GDP, increased.

The deceleration in real GDP in the first quarter primarily reflected a deceleration in private inventory investment, an acceleration in imports and a deceleration in non-residential fixed investment that were partly offset by accelerations in exports and in PCE.

Motor vehicle output added 1.12 percentage points to the first-quarter change in real GDP after adding 0.47 percentage point to the fourth-quarter change. Final sales of computers subtracted 0.03 percentage point from the first-quarter change in real GDP after adding 0.12 percentage point to the fourth-quarter change.

The price index for gross domestic purchases, which measures prices paid by U.S. residents, increased 2.4 percent in the first quarter, this index increased 1.1 percent in the fourth quarter. Excluding food and energy prices, the price index for gross domestic purchases increased 2.3 percent in the first quarter, compared with an increase of 1.2 percent in the fourth.

Real personal consumption expenditures increased 2.7 percent in the first quarter, compared with an increase of 2.1 percent in the fourth. Durable goods increased 14.3 percent, compared with an increase of 16.1 percent. Non-durable goods increased 2.3 percent, compared with an increase of 0.8 percent. Services increased 1.0 percent, compared with an increase of 0.4 percent.

Real non-residential fixed investment increased 1.9 percent in the first quarter, compared with an increase of 5.2 percent in the fourth. Non-residential structures decreased 3.3 percent, compared with a decrease of 0.9 percent. Equipment and software increased 3.9 percent, compared with an increase of 7.5 percent. Real residential fixed investment increased 19.4 percent, compared with an increase of 11.6 percent.

Real exports of goods and services increased 7.2 percent in the first quarter, compared with an increase of 2.7 percent in the fourth. Real imports of goods and services increased 6.1 percent, compared with an increase of 3.7 percent.

Real federal government consumption expenditures and gross investment decreased 5.9 percent in the first quarter, compared with a decrease of 6.9 percent in the fourth. National defense decreased 8.3 percent, compared with a decrease of 12.1 percent. Nondefense decreased 0.8 percent, in contrast to an increase of 4.5 percent. Real state and local government consumption expenditures and gross investment decreased 2.5 percent, compared with a decrease of 2.2 percent.

The change in real private inventories added 0.21 percentage point to the first-quarter change in real GDP, after adding 1.81 percentage points to the fourth-quarter change. Private businesses increased inventories $57.7 billion in the first quarter, following an increase of $52.2 billion in the fourth quarter and a decrease of $2.0 billion in the third.

Real final sales of domestic product — GDP less change in private inventories — increased 1.7 percent in the first quarter, compared with an increase of 1.1 percent in the fourth.

Real gross domestic purchases — purchases by U.S. residents of goods and services wherever produced — increased 1.9 percent in the first quarter, compared with an increase of 3.1 percent in the fourth.

Real gross national product — the goods and services produced by the labor and property supplied by U.S. residents — increased 1.3 percent in the first quarter, compared with an increase of 1.8 percent in the fourth. GNP includes, and GDP excludes, net receipts of income from the rest of the world, which decreased $16.4 billion in the first quarter after decreasing $36.7 billion in the fourth; in the first quarter, receipts decreased $4.2 billion, and payments increased $12.1 billion.

Current-dollar GDP — the market value of the nation’s output of goods and services — increased 3.6 percent, or $134.6 billion, in the first quarter to a level of $15,454.0 billion. In the fourth quarter, current-dollar GDP increased 3.8 percent, or $143.3 billion.

Real gross domestic income (GDI), which measures the output of the economy as the costs incurred and the incomes earned in the production of GDP, increased 2.7 percent in the first quarter, compared with an increase of 2.6 percent in the fourth. For a given quarter, the estimates of GDP and GDI may differ for a variety of reasons, including the incorporation of largely independent source data. However, over longer time spans, the estimates of GDP and GDI tend to follow similar patterns of change.