WASHINGTON Real gross domestic product the broadest measure of the economys performance rose at a 4.4% seasonally adjusted annual rate in the first quarter, according to preliminary figures released by the Commerce Department yesterday.
The preliminary first-quarter figure came after an advance estimated GDP acceleration of 4.2% and a fourth-quarter gain of 4.1%.
Economists interviewed by IFR BondData America predicted a 4.2% rise in preliminary first-quarter GDP.
Commerce said in a statement released with the preliminary figures that the major contributors to the increase in real GDP in the first quarter were personal consumption expenditures, exports, equipment and software, government spending, and private inventory investment.
The slight acceleration in GDP this quarter compared with the previous quarter was due primarily to a slowdown in imports, an upturn in government spending, and an acceleration in consumption that were largely offset by decelerations in exports and equipment and software, the Commerce Department said.
Real personal consumption accelerated 3.9% in the preliminary first quarter estimate, compared to a 3.8% advance estimated increase. The gain was led by nondurable goods, which expanded 6.6%, compared with a 6.4% advance estimated increase.
Meanwhile, durable goods consumption decreased by 4.2% in the preliminary figures, compared with a 4.7% deceleration in the advance figures. The decline was the largest percent drop since the second quarter of 2000.
Total government spending grew at a pace of 2.9%, compared to a 2.0% increase in the advance figures.
The 2.9% acceleration was driven by federal spending, which rose by 9.2% in the preliminary first quarter estimate, compared to a 10.1% increase in the advance figures. Within that category, federal defense spending increased 13.2%, compared with a 15.1% leap in the advance figures, and federal nondefense spending accelerated 1.5%, compared to a 0.7% slowdown in the advance figures.
Meanwhile, state and local spending decreased 0.7% compared with a 2.6% decline in the advance figures.
The chain-type measure of gross domestic product registered a 2.6% increase in the preliminary estimate, compared to a 2.5% gain in the advance figures.
Economists polled by IFR BondData America had projected a 2.5% increase in chain-type GDP.
