WASHINGTON — Real gross domestic product increased at an annual rate of 2.2% in the first quarter of 2012, according to the advance estimate released by the Commerce Department Friday.
The advance estimate of first-quarter real GDP, compiled from partially complete source data and subject to further revision, fell short of the 2.5% median increase projected by economists polled by Thomson Reuters.
The price index for gross domestic purchases, which measures the prices paid by U.S. residents, increased 2.4% in the first quarter.
That report showed a 2.1% rise in the core price index, which excludes food and energy, right in line with the economists’ projection.
The increase in real GDP reflected a gain of 2.9% in personal consumption expenditures, the largest quarterly uptick since it climbed 3.6% in the fourth quarter of 2010. Also contributing to the first quarter rise were increases of 5.4% in real exports and 6.0% in gross private domestic investment.
Those gains were partially offset by decreases of 5.6% in federal government spending and 1.2% in state and local government spending.
Imports, which are subtracted from the calculation of GDP, increased 4.3% in the fourth quarter, the Commerce Department said.
