The Ministry of Commerce maintained its estimations for the growth in the U.S. economy in the first quarter, confounding analysts’ expectations that waited for the announcement of improved figures. The U.S. GDP grew by 1.8% in the first quarter, slowing considerably in the last quarter of 2010 when it had risen 3.1%, according to government figures today saw the light of day. The latest figures for GDP was unchanged compared with the initial estimate of the Ministry of Commerce.
Analysts polled by Dow Jones Newswires spoke for upward revision of growth at 2.2%. The last report of the ministry data on consumer spending were revised downwards and showed an increase of 2.2% from baseline to increase 2.7%. In the fourth quarter of 2010, consumer spending had risen 4%. U.S. exports increased by 9.2% in the first quarter, magnitude improvement over the original estimate of 4.9% rise and the last quarter of 2010 when they had risen 8.6%. The federal government spending fell 7.9%, recording the biggest drop in 11 years time, while the costs of state and local governments fell 3.2%. As our Forex broker reported: The Commerce Department will publish its third and final report for the first quarter GDP on June 24. The GDP report also showed rising inflation because of higher prices on goods. The price index for personal consumption expenditures jumped 3.8% in the first quarter after rising 1.7% in late 2010. However, the index preferred by the Federal Reserve, the price index excluding prices of food and energy rose 1.4% in the first quarter remained within the tolerance margin of the central bank.
This news post was written by Chris on May 26, 2011