Commerce ups Q1 2017 U.S. GDP estimate again

United States gross domestic product increased 1.4 percent in the first quarter of 2017, down from from a 2.1 percent growth rate the previous quarter but up from previous projections, according to the “third” estimate from the Department of Commerce.    United States gross domestic product (GDP) – the broadest measure of a nation’s overall economic health – grew at a 1.4 percent annual rate in the first quarter of 2017, according to the “third” advance estimate from the Department of Commerce.
   The Q1 GDP growth fell short of the 2.1 percent growth rate seen in the fourth quarter of 2016, but was up from prior predictions of 1.2 percent and just 0.7 percent, respectively, in Commerce’s “advance” and “second” estimates. 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.
   Real U.S. GDP grew at a revised 1.6 percent rate in 2016 compared with a 2.6 percent growth rate the previous year.
   “With the third estimate for the first quarter, personal consumption expenditures (PCE) and exports increased more than previously estimated, but the general picture of economic growth remains the same,” Commerce’s Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) said.
   Real exports of goods and services grew 7 percent in the first quarter, according to BEA, compared with a 4.5 percent decrease in the fourth quarter of 2016. Imports, meanwhile, which are a subtraction in the calculation of GDP, grew 4 percent, compared with a 9 percent increase the previous quarter.
   In other, slightly less encouraging news for the U.S. economy, the most recent data from Commerce indicates new orders for durable goods in May 2017 grew sold 1.1 percent to $228.7 billion following a revised 0.9 percent decrease in April. The April decrease followed four consecutive monthly decreases.
   Commerce’s Census Bureau noted that transportation equipment, also down for the second straight month, drove the decline in durable goods orders, falling 3.4 percent to $75.4 billion for the month. Excluding orders for transportation equipment, total durable goods orders ticked up 0.1 percent in May.
   Shipments of manufactured durable goods grew 0.8 percent to $234.9 billion after two consecutive monthly decreases.