Real gross domestic product -- the output of goods and services produced by labor and property located in the United States -- increased at an annual rate of 2.7 percent in the first quarter of 2010, (that is, from the fourth quarter to the first quarter), according to the "third" estimate released by the Bureau of Economic Analysis.
In the fourth quarter of 2009, real GDP increased 5.6 percent. the GDP estimate released today is based on more complete source data than were available for he "second" estimate issued last month. In the second estimate, the increase in real GDP was 3.0.
The increase in real GDP in the first quarter primarily reflected positive contributions from personal consumption expenditures (PCE), private inventory investment, exports, and nonresidential fixed investment that were partly offset by negative contributions from state and local government spending and residential fixed investment. Imports, which are a subtraction in the calculation of GDP,increased.
The deceleration in real GDP in the first quarter primarily reflected decelerations in private inventory investment and in exports, a downturn in residential fixed investment, a deceleration in nonresidential fixed investment, and a larger decrease in state and local government spending that were partly offset by an acceleration in PCE.
Motor vehicle output added 0.40 percentage point to the first-quarter change in real GDP after adding 0.45 percentage point to the fourth-quarter change. Final sales of computers added 0.09 percentage point to the first-quarter change in real GDP after adding 0.01 percentage point to the fourth quarter change.
The price index for gross domestic purchases, which measures prices paid by U.S. residents, increased 1.7 percent in the first quarter, unrevised from the second estimate; this index increased 2.0 percent in the fourth quarter. Excluding food and energy prices, the price index for gross domestic purchases increased 1.2 percent in the first quarter, compared with an increase of 1.5 percent in the fourth. The federal pay raise for civilian and military personnel added 0.1 percentage point to the first quarter
increase in the gross domestic purchases price index.
Monetary Policy Focus
Currency Converter
Central Banks Interest Rates
| US | 0.25% |
| UK | 0.5% |
| EMU / EURO | 1% |
| Japan | 0.1% |
| Switzerland | 0.25% |
| Canada | 0.25% |
| Australia | 3% |
| New Zealand | 2.5% |
| Sweden | 0.25% |
