Commerce ups U.S. Q3 GDP estimate again

U.S. gross domestic product increased 3.5 percent in the third quarter of 2016, according to the “third” estimate from the Department of Commerce, up from previous estimates of 3.2 percent and 2.9 percent.    United States gross domestic product (GDP) – the broadest measure of a nation’s overall economic health – grew 3.5 percent during third quarter 2016, according to the “third” advance estimate from the Department of Commerce, up from a preliminary estimate of 2.9 percent issued in October and a “second”estimate of 3.2 percent last month.
   U.S. GDP grew at a revised 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 would be the 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 acceleration in GDP growth reflected increases in private inventory investment, federal government spending, and an acceleration in exports, as well as smaller decreases in state and local government spending and residential investment, which were partly offset by a smaller increase in personal consumption expenditures and an increase in imports, which are a subtraction in the calculation of GDP.
   Real exports of goods and services shot up 10 percent in the third quarter, according to BEA, compared with a 1.8 percent increase in the second quarter. Meanwhile, imports grew 2.2 percent, compared with a 0.2 percent increase the previous quarter.
   U.S. export growth had been held in check largely by a strong dollar, which makes U.S. exports more expensive and, therefore, less desirable abroad, as well as declining demand in China and Europe, but were led by a massive surge in soybean exports during Q3 2016.
   In slightly less encouraging news for the U.S. economy, additional new data from Commerce indicates new orders for durable goods in November declined 4.6 percent to $228.2 billion following four consecutive monthly increases.
   Durable goods orders increased a revised 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 after four straight monthly increases, drove the decrease in durable goods orders, dropping 13.2 percent to $76.6 billion for the month. Excluding orders for transportation equipment, total durable goods orders ticked up 0.5 percent.
   Shipments of manufactured durable goods, now up in two of the last three months, inched up 0.1 percent to $234.2 billion in November following a revised 0.1 percent decrease in October.