Commerce increases Q2 U.S. GDP estimate

The U.S. Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Economic Analysis revised a previous prediction of a 2.3 percent annual growth rate in second quarter gross domestic product to a 3.7 percent increase.    United States gross domestic product (GDP) expanded at an annual rate of 3.7 percent in the second quarter of 2015, according to the second estimate from the Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Economic Analysis.
   Commerce in its first GDP estimate last month predicted a 2.3 percent growth rate for the second quarter.
   The department released its latest estimate amid what analysts are calling a global stock market sell-off, which has been spurred by growing concerns over the recent economic downturn in China. The estimate exceeded analyst expectations of a 3.2 percent growth rate, according to financial news service Bloomberg Business.
   Commerce said in a statement the upward revision in its GDP estimate “primarily reflected upward revisions to nonresidential fixed investment, to private inventory investment, to state and local government spending, and to PCE and a downward revision to imports.”
   Real exports of goods and services increased 5.2 percent in the second quarter, contributing 0.7 percentage points to the 3.7 percent GDP growth rate. Imports, which are a subtraction in the calculation of GDP, grew 2.8 percent, contributing negative 0.4 percentage points to GDP growth. This means net exports made a positive contribution to real GDP growth (0.23 percent points) for only the second time since the start of 2014, according to the Wall Street Journal.
   Gross domestic product is considered one of several key indicators in the overall health of the U.S. economy.