U.S. GDP Grows Faster Than Expected in 1Q

The U.S. economy grew faster in the first three months of the year than previously estimated. According to the second estimate for real gross domestic product (GDP) recently released by the Bureau of Economic Analysis, real GDP grew at an annual rate of 1.3% in 1st quarter 2023. That was revised up from the previous estimate of 1.1%. While that recent estimate was above expectations (1.1%), it was below the annualized expansion rates of 3.2% and 2.6% in 3rd quarter 2022 and 4th quarter 2022, respectively. The updated estimate for 1st quarter real GDP primarily reflected an upward revision to private inventory investment, though that measure remained negative. The overall increase also reflected increases in consumer spending, exports, government spending and nonresidential fixed investment. Those increases were partly offset by decreases in private inventory investment and residential fixed investment. A third and final estimate for 1st quarter GDP, which will be based on more complete source data, will be released on June 29th.