The Commerce Department released a report on Thursday showing the pace of U.S. economic growth in the first quarter was unrevised from the advance estimate.
The report showed real gross domestic product spiked by 6.4 percent in the first quarter, unchanged from the estimate provided last month. Economists had expected a modest upward revision in the pace of GDP growth to 6.5 percent.
Upward revisions to consumer spending and non-residential fixed investment were offset by downward revisions to exports and private inventory investment, the Commerce Department said.
The strong GDP growth in the first three months of 2021 still reflects a notable acceleration from the 4.3 percent jump seen in the last three months of 2020.
Increases in consumer spending, non-residential fixed investment, federal government spending, residential fixed investment, and state and local government spending contributed to the first quarter GDP growth.
Meanwhile, decreases in private inventory investment and exports limited the upside along with an increase in imports, which are a subtraction in the calculation of GDP.
“We expect second-quarter GDP growth to be around 10% annualized, but this is principally because of the strong momentum going into the quarter generated by the delivery of the stimulus checks in the first quarter,” said Paul Ashworth, Chief US Economist at Capital Economics.
He added, “Furthermore, given the growing shortages, supply constraints mean that the balance of risks to that second-quarter forecasts probably now lie to the downside.”
The report also showed core consumer prices, which exclude food and energy prices, surged up by 2.5 percent in the first quarter, reflecting an upward revision from the previously reported 2.3 percent jump.
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