Second Estimate 1Q2017 GDP Growth Improves to 1.2 %

Written by Jill Mislinski and Steven Hansen

The second estimate of first quarter 2017 Real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) was increased to a positive 1.2% for the advance estimate’s 0.7 %. Year-over-year growth was also increased from the advance estimate.

The market expected:

Seasonally Adjusted Quarter-over-Quarter Change at annual rate	Consensus Range	Consensus	Advance Actual	2nd Estimate Actual
Real GDP	0.7 % to 1.0 %	+0.8 %	+0.7 %	+1.2%
GDP price index	2.3 % to 2.4 %	+2.3 %	+2.3 %	+2.2 %
Real Consumer Spending	0.3 % to 0.5 %	+0.4 %	+0.4 %	+0.6 %

• Headline GDP is calculated by annualizing one quarter’s data against the previous quarters data. A better method would be to look at growth compared to the same quarter one year ago. For 1Q2017, the year-over-year growth is now 2.0 % – unchanged from 4Q2016’s 2.0 % year-over-year growth. So one might say that the rate of GDP growth is unchanged from the previous quarter.

The same report also provides Gross Domestic Income which in theory should equal Gross Domestic Product. Some have argued the discrepancy is due to misclassification of capital gains as ordinary income – but whatever the reason, there are differences.

Real GDP (blue line) Vs. Real GDI (red line) Expressed As Year-over-Year Change

This second estimate released today is based on more complete source data than were available for the “advance” estimate issued last month. (See caveats below.)

Real GDP per Capita

The table below compares the previous quarter estimate of GDP (Table 1.1.2) with the advance estimate this quarter which shows:

• consumption for goods and services decelerated..
• trade balance improved and increased GDP by 0.1% (imports grew and exports declined)
• inventory change removed 1.1 % to GDP
• except for inventory growth, fixed investment growth improved
• there was a decline in federal spending removing 0.1 % from GDP

The following is Table 1.1.2 before the annual revision: [click to enlarge]

What the BEA says about the second estimate of GDP:

Real gross domestic product (GDP) increased at an annual rate of 1.2 percent in the first quarter of 2017 (table 1), according to the “second” estimate released by the Bureau of Economic Analysis. In the fourth quarter, real GDP increased 2.1 percent.

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 0.7 percent. With this second estimate for the first quarter, the general picture of economic growth remains the same; increases in nonresidential fixed investment and in personal consumption expenditures (PCE) were larger and the decrease in state and local government spending was smaller than previously estimated. These revisions were partly offset by a larger decrease in private inventory investment.

Real gross domestic income (GDI) increased 0.9 percent in the first quarter, in contrast to a decrease of 1.4 percent (revised) in the fourth. The average of real GDP and real GDI, a supplemental measure of U.S. economic activity that equally weights GDP and GDI, increased 1.0 percent in the first quarter, compared with an increase of 0.3 percent in the fourth quarter (table 1).

The increase in real GDP in the first quarter reflected positive contributions from nonresidential fixed investment, exports, residential fixed investment, and PCE that were partly offset by negative contributions from private inventory investment, federal government spending, and state and local government spending. Imports, which are a subtraction in the calculation of GDP, increased.

The deceleration in real GDP in the first quarter primarily reflected a downturn in private inventory investment and a deceleration in PCE that were partly offset by an upturn in exports and an acceleration in nonresidential fixed investment.

The following compares the GDP deflator to the Consumer Price Index:

BLS explaination of the changes to GDP:

The percent change in real GDP was revised up from the advance estimate, reflecting upward revisions to nonresidential fixed investment, PCE, and state and local government spending that were partly offset by a downward revision to private inventory investment.

Overview Analysis:

[note that Advisor Perspectives / dshort is offline today. This is their analysis for the advance estimate]

Here is a look at Quarterly GDP since Q2 1947. Prior to 1947, GDP was calculated annually. To be more precise, the chart shows is the annualized percentage change from the preceding quarter in Real (inflation-adjusted) Gross Domestic Product. We’ve also included recessions, which are determined by the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER). Also illustrated are the 3.22% average (arithmetic mean) and the 10-year moving average, currently at 1.37%.

Here is a log-scale chart of real GDP with an exponential regression, which helps us understand growth cycles since the 1947 inception of quarterly GDP. The latest number puts us 14.8% below trend, the largest negative spread in the history of this series.

A particularly telling representation of slowing growth in the US economy is the year-over-year rate of change. The average rate at the start of recessions is 3.35%. Nine of the eleven recessions over this timeframe have begun at a higher level of real YoY GDP.

In summary, the Q4 GDP Second Estimate of 1.9% was lower than expected and unchanged from the Advanced Estimate.

The chart below is a way to visualize real GDP change since 2007. The chart uses a stacked column chart to segment the four major components of GDP with a dashed line overlay to show the sum of the four, which is real GDP itself. As the analysis clear shows, personal consumption is key factor in GDP mathematics.

Caveats on the Use of Gross Domestic Product (GDP)

GDP is market value of all final goods and services produced within the USA where money is used in the transaction – and it is expressed as an annualized number. GDP = private consumption + gross investment + government spending + (exports − imports), or GDP = C + I + G + (X – M). GDP counts monetary expenditures. It is designed to count value added so that goods are not counted over and over as they move through the manufacture – wholesale – retail chain.

The vernacular relating to the different GDP releases:

“Advance” estimates, based on source data that are incomplete or subject to further revision by the source agency, are released near the end of the first month after the end of the quarter; as more detailed and more comprehensive data become available, “second” and “third” estimates are released near the end of the second and third months, respectively. The “latest” estimates reflect the results of both annual and comprehensive revisions.

Consider that GDP includes the costs of suing your neighbor or McDonald’s for hot coffee spilled in your crotch, plastic surgery or cancer treatment, buying a new aircraft carrier for the military, or even the replacement of your house if it burns down – yet little of these activities is real economic growth.

GDP does not include include home costs (other than the new home purchase price even though mortgaged up the kazoo), interest rates, bank charges, or the money spent buying anything used.

It does not measure wealth, disposable income, or employment.

In short, GDP does not measure the change of the economic environment for Joe Sixpack in 1970, and Joe Sixpack’s kid, yet pundits continuously compare GDP across time periods.

Although there always will be some correlation between all economic pulse points, GDP does not measure the economic elements that directly impact the quality of life of its citizens.

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