US: Real GDP grows at an annual rate of 2% in Q1 vs. 1.3% expected

The US BEA revised Q1 GDP higher to 2% from 1.3%.
US Dollar Index rises above 103.00 after GDP and Jobless Claims data.

Matías Salord FXStreet

The real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the US expanded at an annualized rate of 2% in the first quarter, the US Bureau of Economic Analysis' (BEA) final estimate showed on Thursday. This reading came in above the previous estimate and the market expectation of 1.3%.

The BEA reported that GDP “was revised up 0.7 percentage point from the second estimate, reflecting upward revisions to exports, consumer spending, state and local government spending, and residential fixed investment that were partly offset by downward revisions to nonresidential fixed investment, federal government spending, and private inventory investment. Imports were revised down.”

Key takeaways:

Compared to the fourth quarter, the deceleration in real GDP in the first quarter primarily reflected a downturn in private inventory investment and a slowdown in nonresidential fixed investment that were partly offset by an acceleration in consumer spending, an upturn in exports, and a smaller decrease in residential fixed investment. Imports turned up.

Current‑dollar GDP increased 6.1 percent at an annual rate, or $391.8 billion, in the first quarter to a level of $26.53 trillion, an upward revision of $43.5 billion from the previous estimate.

The price index for gross domestic purchases increased 3.8 percent in the first quarter, the same as the previous estimate. The personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index increased 4.1 percent, revised down 0.1 percentage point. The PCE price index excluding food and energy prices increased 4.9 percent, a downward revision of 0.1 percentage point.

Disposable personal income increased $587.9 billion, or 12.9 percent, in the first quarter, an upward revision of $26.4 billion from the previous estimate. Real disposable personal income increased 8.5 percent, an upward revision of 0.7 percentage point.

Market reaction

The US Dollar Index rose following the report and the weekly Jobless Claims. The DXY climbed above 103.00, and it was up by 0.15% on the day, approaching daily highs.

Author

Matías Salord

FXStreet

Matías started in financial markets in 2008, after graduating in Economics. He was trained in chart analysis and then became an educator. He also studied Journalism. He started writing analyses for specialized websites before joining FXStreet.

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