Eye On Housing
The Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) released its third estimate of real GDP growth for the second quarter of 2015, raising growth up 0.2 percentage points to 3.9%. The bulk of the additional growth was concentrated in personal consumption expenditures and business fixed investment. Growth was 0.6% in the first quarter. Overall, the composition of growth looks good; strength in… Read More ›
With the release of the final estimates of second quarter 2015 GDP growth (revised up to a 3.9% growth rate), housing’s share of gross domestic product (GDP) declined slightly to 15.31%. However, the home building and remodeling component – residential fixed investment – expanded for the third consecutive quarter to 3.21% of total GDP. Housing-related activities contribute to GDP in two basic ways. The… Read More ›
The Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) released its second estimate of real GDP growth for the second quarter of 2015, revising the earlier 2.3% growth estimate up to 3.7%. The revisions were broad based with faster growth in consumption, investment, government spending and trade adding to the upward revision. Business investment contributed 0.8 of the 1.4 percentage point increase, followed… Read More ›
The Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) released its “advance” estimate of real GDP growth for the second quarter of 2015 and revisions to historical estimates back to 2012. Real GDP grew at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 2.3%, accelerating from a 0.6% rate in the first quarter. Personal consumption expenditures (PCE) contributed most of the growth (2.0%). Contributions from… Read More ›
The U.S. economy shrank by a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 0.2% over the first quarter of 2015. This third and final estimate of first quarter GDP growth is lower than the initial estimate but is higher than the second estimate. However, despite first quarter weakness, mortgage lenders believe that the U.S. economy is on the “right track”. In contrast,… Read More ›
The Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) revised real GDP growth down to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of -0.7% in the first quarter of 2015 from an initial estimate of +0.2%. The main factors were an upward revision to imports (which subtract from GDP growth) and a downward revision to inventory investment. Real GDP grew at an annual rate of… Read More ›
The Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) reported real GDP grew at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 0.2% in the first quarter of 2015. Real GDP grew at an annual rate of 2.2% in the fourth quarter of 2014. The slowdown in economic growth was expected but the extent of the slowdown was a surprise. Harsh weather, a strong dollar,… Read More ›
In the third estimate of real GDP growth for the fourth quarter of 2014 the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) reported a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 2.2%, unchanged from the second estimate. The composition of growth changed marginally, but the overall performance of the economy in the fourth quarter was unchanged. Upward revisions to personal consumption expenditures (PCE), residential… Read More ›
The Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) released its second estimate of real GDP growth for the fourth quarter of 2014. Growth in economic output was revised downward to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 2.2% from an “advance” estimate of 2.6%. The second estimate is based on more complete information than was available for the initial estimate. The slower pace… Read More ›
The advance estimate from the Bureau of Economic Analysis indicates that Gross Domestic Product (GDP) increased at a 2.6% annual rate. This was below expectations (generally around 3%). While a “miss,” the first estimate of growth for the final quarter of 2014 includes some notable elements of optimism. In particular, consumers – benefiting from improved balance sheets (in part due… Read More ›