A report from
the Commerce Department revealed on Thursday that the U.S. economy grew marginally more than
previously estimated in the first quarter of 2024, due to a downward revision
to imports, which are a subtraction in the calculation of GDP, and upward
revisions to non-residential fixed investment and government spending, which
were partly offset by a downward revision to consumer spending.
According to
the third estimate, the U.S. gross domestic product (GDP) expanded at an annual
rate of 1.4 per cent in the first quarter of 2024, being slightly above the 1.3
per cent advance reported in the second estimate. Still, this was the weakest
growth rate since a contraction in the second quarter of 2021 (-0.6 per cent
q-o-q).
Economists had anticipated
the growth rate to be revised to 1.4 per cent q-o-q.
In the previous
quarter, the economy increased by 3.4 per cent q-o-q.
The first-quarter
rise in real GDP primarily reflected gains in consumer spending, residential fixed investment, non-residential
fixed investment, and state and local government spending that were partly
offset by a decline in private inventory investment. Meanwhile, imports went
up.