3Q GDP Holds Steady at 2.1%

Real gross domestic product increased at an annual rate of 2.1 percent in the third quarter, according to the “second” estimate released by the Bureau of Economic Analysis.

The GDP estimate released today is based on more complete source data than were available for the “advance” estimate issued last month. In the advance estimate, the increase in real GDP was 2.0 percent. In the second quarter, real GDP increased by 6.7 percent.

BEA said the increase in real GDP in the third quarter reflected increases in private inventory investment, personal consumption expenditures, state and local government spending and nonresidential fixed investment, partly offset by decreases in residential fixed investment, federal government spending and exports. Imports, which are a subtraction in the calculation of GDP, increased.

The report said deceleration in real GDP in the third quarter was more than accounted for by a slowdown in PCE. From the second quarter to the third quarter, spending for goods turned down (led by motor vehicles and parts) and services decelerated (led by food services and accommodations).