(01-26-18)
Real gross domestic product (GDP) increased at an annual rate of 2.6 percent in the fourth quarter of 2017 (table 1), according to the “advance” estimate released by the Bureau of Economic Analysis. In the third quarter, real GDP increased 3.2 percent. The Bureau emphasized that the fourth-quarter advance estimate released today is based on source data that are incomplete or subject to further revision by the source agency. The “second” estimate for the fourth quarter, based on more complete data, will be released on February 28, 2018. The increase in real GDP in the fourth quarter reflected positive contributions from personal consumption expenditures (PCE), nonresidential fixed investment, exports, residential fixed investment, state and local government spending, and federal government spending that were partly offset by a negative contribution from private inventory investment.
Imports, which are a subtraction in the calculation of GDP, increased. The deceleration in real GDP growth in the fourth quarter reflected a downturn in private inventory investment that was partly offset by accelerations in PCE, exports, nonresidential fixed investment, state and local government spending, and federal government spending, and an upturn in residential fixed investment. Imports, which are a subtraction in the calculation of GDP, turned up. Current-dollar GDP increased 5.0 percent, or $238.3 billion, in the fourth quarter to a level of $19,738.9 billion. In the third quarter, current-dollar GDP increased 5.3 percent, or $250.6 billion. The price index for gross domestic purchases increased 2.5 percent in the fourth quarter, compared with an increase of 1.7 percent in the third quarter (table 4). The PCE price index increased 2.8 percent, compared with an increase of 1.5 percent. Excluding food and energy prices, the PCE price index increased 1.9 percent, compared with an increase of 1.3 percent. Personal Income – Current-dollar personal income increased $178.9 billion in the fourth quarter, compared with an increase of $112.3 billion in the third. The acceleration in personal income primarily reflected an upturn in personal interest income and an acceleration in nonfarm proprietors’ income. Disposable personal income increased $139.0 billion, or 3.9 percent, in the fourth quarter, compared with an increase of $73.8 billion, or 2.1 percent, in the third. Real disposable personal income increased 1.1 percent, compared with an increase of 0.5 percent. Personal saving was $384.4 billion in the fourth quarter, compared with $478.3 billion in the third. The personal saving rate — personal saving as a percentage of disposable personal income — was 2.6 percent in the fourth quarter, compared with 3.3 percent in the third.