U.S. economy falters in Q4 2016 after strong Q3

United States gross domestic product increased 1.9 percent in the fourth quarter of 2016, according to the “advance” estimate from the Department of Commerce, down from a 3.5 percent growth rate in the third quarter.    United States gross domestic product (GDP) – the broadest measure of a nation’s overall economic health – grew 1.9 percent during fourth quarter 2016, according to the “advance” estimate from the Department of Commerce.
   U.S. GDP grew at a revised 3.5 percent rate in the third quarter, a 1.4 percent rate in the second quarter, and a 0.8 percent rate in the first quarter of 2016. GDP is a calculation of the value of the goods and services produced by a nation’s economy minus the value of the goods and services used up in production.
   The 3.5 percent growth rate in Q3 was strongest since third quarter 2014, beating analyst expectations of a revised 3.3 percent expansion pace, according to a report from Reuters news service.
   The Commerce Department’s Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) said the deceleration in GDP growth reflected decreases in exports, personal consumption expenditures, and federal government spending, and an increase in imports, which are a subtraction in the calculation of GDP. These factors were offset in part by increases in residential fixed investment, private inventory investment, state and local government spending, and nonresidential fixed investment.
   Real exports of goods and services fell 4.3 percent in the fourth quarter, according to BEA, compared with a 10 percent increase in the third quarter. Imports, meanwhile, shot up 8.3 percent following a 2.2 percent increase the previous quarter.
   Adding to the less-than-encouraging news for the U.S. economy, new data from Commerce indicates new orders for durable goods in December declined 0.4 percent to $227 billion following a revised 4.8 percent decrease in November.
   The November decrease came on the heels of four consecutive monthly increases. Durable goods orders grew 4.8 percent in October, 0.4 percent in September, 0.3 percent in August and 3.6 percent in July after falling 4.2 percent and 2.8 percent in June and May, respectively.
   Census noted that transportation equipment, also down for the second month in a row following four straight monthly increases, drove the decrease in durable goods orders, dropping 3.2 percent to $73.7 billion for the month. Excluding orders for transportation equipment, total durable goods orders ticked up 0.5 percent in December.
   Shipments of manufactured durable goods, now up in three of the last four months, grew 1.4 percent to $238 billion in December following a revised 0.3 percent bump in November.