The U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) issued the following news release today:
Real gross domestic product (GDP) increased at an annual rate of 2.0 percent in the first quarter of 2018, according to the “third” estimate released by the Bureau of Economic Analysis. In the fourth quarter, real GDP increased 2.9 percent.
Profits from current production (corporate profits with inventory valuation adjustment and capital consumption adjustment) increased $39.5 billion in the first quarter, in contrast to a decrease of $1.1 billion in the fourth quarter.
Real gross domestic income (GDI) increased 3.6 percent in the first quarter, compared with an increase of 1.0 percent in the fourth quarter. The average of real GDP and real GDI, a supplemental measure of U.S. economic activity that equally weights GDP and GDI, increased 2.8 percent in the first quarter, compared with an increase of 2.0 percent in the fourth quarter.
The increase in real GDP in the first quarter reflected positive contributions from nonresidential fixed investment, PCE, exports, federal government spending, and state and local government spending that were partly offset by negative contributions from residential fixed investment and private inventory investment. Imports, which are a subtraction in the calculation of GDP, increased.
The deceleration in real GDP growth in the first quarter reflected decelerations in PCE, exports, state and local government spending, and federal government spending and a downturn in residential fixed investment. These movements were partly offset by a smaller decrease in private inventory investment and a larger increase in nonresidential fixed investment. Imports, which are a subtraction in the calculation of GDP, decelerated.
Current-dollar GDP increased 4.2 percent, or $206.0 billion, in the first quarter to a level of $19.96 trillion. In the fourth quarter, current-dollar GDP increased 5.3 percent, or $253.5 billion.
More information HERE.