ADVERTISEMENT

Economy Slows to 1.1% Growth in First Quarter of 2016

Growth is down from 1.4% seen in fourth quarter of last year

cash money
AP
June 28, 2016

The U.S. economy slowed in the first quarter of 2016 as real gross domestic product expanded at an annual rate of 1.1 percent, according to the third estimate released by the Bureau of Economic Analysis.

Real GDP is adjusted for inflation and represents "the value of the production of goods and services in the economy," according to the bureau. The 1.1 percent growth for the first quarter of 2016 is a decline from the 1.4 percent growth seen in the fourth quarter of 2015.

The third estimate of 1.1 percent growth was revised upwards from the previous second estimate of 0.8 percent reported in May. According to the Wall Street Journal, this is the weakest pace of GDP growth seen in a year.

The first quarter real GDP of 1.1 percent, which includes performance from January, February, and March 2016, was higher than the 0.2 percent growth seen in the first quarter of 2015.

"The deceleration in real GDP in the first quarter primarily reflected a deceleration in [personal consumption expenditures], a larger decrease in nonresidential fixed investment, and a downturn in federal government spending that were partly offset by upturns in state and local government spending and exports and an acceleration in residential fixed investment," the report states.

The bureau will release its advance estimate of GDP for the second quarter of 2016 on July 29.

Published under: Economy