Eye On Housing
An almost audible sigh of relief is conveyed in the statement that followed the July meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) as the committee upgraded its assessment of the economy and the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) released estimates of economic activity for the April to June quarter, including 4.0% growth in GDP. The BEA reported that real… Read More ›
Tag Archive for ‘gdp’
Eye on the Economy: Home Sales Surge after Slow First Quarter
Housing news continued to improve as pending home sales surged following a slow first quarter. Home prices also continued to move higher but at a more moderate pace, suggesting the extra push caused by investors may be slowing. Economic news, however, was mixed. Consumer confidence increased in response to improving labor market conditions. On the other hand, new estimates from… Read More ›
Housing’s Other Contribution to GDP
Housing added 0.7 percentage points to real GDP growth in the first quarter of 2014, however the construction component (residential fixed investment) detracted from growth over the past two quarters owing to the poor weather conditions seen across the country over the period. In addition, housing accounted for 15.6 percent of total real GDP, which is low from a historical… Read More ›
GDP Growth, First Quarter, Third Estimate – Let’s Move On
The Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) released the third estimate of real GDP growth for the first quarter of 2014. Real GDP contracted at a 2.9% seasonally adjusted annual rate, down from +0.1% growth in the first (advance) estimate, and -1.0% in the second estimate. The downward revision to the third estimate was concentrated in personal consumption expenditures (PCE) and… Read More ›
GDP Growth and Inventory Investment – Payback Time
The Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) released the second estimate of real GDP growth for the first quarter of 2014. The second estimate is based on more complete data than is available for the advance estimate. Real GDP contracted at a 1.0% seasonally adjusted annual rate, a sharper slowdown than originally estimated (initially +0.1% growth). Growth in the fourth quarter… Read More ›
GDP Growth and the Fed’s Perspective – Riding the Storm Out
The Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) released the advance estimate of real GDP growth for the first quarter of 2014. Real GDP grew at a 0.1% seasonally adjusted annual rate, a sharper slowdown from the 2.6% growth in the fourth quarter than we expected. The slowdown was broad based, with every major category subtracting from growth except personal consumption expenditures… Read More ›
GDP Growth in the Fourth Quarter – Revised Down
The Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) released the second estimate of real GDP growth for the fourth quarter of 2013. Real GDP growth was revised down to a 2.4% seasonally adjusted annual rate, from 3.2% in the advance estimate. The second estimate is based on more complete data than was available for the advance estimate. Real GDP grew at an… Read More ›
Housing Share of the Economy at 15.3%
Housing is an important source of economic growth. As of the final quarter of 2013, housing’s share of gross domestic product (GDP) was 15.3%, with home building yielding 3.1 percentage points of that total. Housing-related activities contribute to GDP in two basic ways. The first is through residential fixed investment (RFI). RFI is effectively the measure of the home building and… Read More ›
GDP Growth in the Fourth Quarter – What Goes Up …
The Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) released the advance estimate of real GDP growth for the fourth quarter of 2013. Real GDP grew at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 3.2%. This is a slowdown from the annual rate of 4.1% in the third quarter. The slowdown in the fourth quarter puts GDP growth on a more realistic path, but… Read More ›
GDP Growth in the Third Quarter, Third Estimate – Growth That Matters
The Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) released the third estimate of real GDP growth for the third quarter of 2013. Real GDP growth was revised upward to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.1%, from the second estimate of 3.6%. Real GDP grew at annual rate of 2.5% in the second quarter and 1.1% in the first quarter. The first… Read More ›