US slightly revises up its GDP estimate for Q2 to 6.7%
Source: Associated Press, via the Seattle Times
Business Nation
US slightly revises up its GDP estimate for Q2 to 6.7%
Sep. 30, 2021 at 5:38 am Updated Sep. 30, 2021 at 6:54 am
By MARTIN CRUTSINGER
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The U.S. economy expanded at a 6.7% annual pace from April through June, the Commerce Department said Thursday, slightly upgrading its estimate of last quarter's growth in the face of a resurgence of COVID-19 in the form of the delta variant.
The government's estimate of growth in the second quarter -- its last of three -- was up from its previous estimate of a 6.6% annual pace that will likely mark a high point for the economy's expansion this year as the virus slows some activity, government support programs wind down and manufacturing supply-chain issues persist.
Thursday's report from the government showed that the nation's gross domestic product -- its total output of goods and services -- accelerated from a 6.3% annual rate in the first three months of the year.
A key factor in the upgraded growth estimate for the April-June quarter was a slightly higher level of consumer spending, which accounts for roughly 70% of economic activity. Consumer spending grew at a 12% annual rate, the fastest expansion since a surge in the third quarter last year, when the economy began to re-open.
Stronger export sales also added to the increased growth estimate for the second quarter. Exports rose at an annual rate of 7.6% after having fallen in the first quarter. Business equipment investment was also up from the government's previous estimate, expanding at a solid 12.3% rate.
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Read more: https://www.seattletimes.com/business/us-slightly-revises-up-its-gdp-estimate-for-q2-to-6-7/
From the source, the Bureau of Economic Analysis:
September 30, 2021
Gross Domestic Product, (Third Estimate), GDP by Industry, and Corporate Profits (Revised), 2nd Quarter 2021
https://www.bea.gov/news/2021/gross-domestic-product-third-estimate-gdp-industry-and-corporate-profits-revised-2nd
Real gross domestic product (GDP) increased at an annual rate of 6.7 percent in the second quarter of 2021, reflecting the continued economic recovery, reopening of establishments, and continued government response related to the COVID-19 pandemic. The increase was revised up 0.1 percentage point from the "second" estimate released in August. In the second quarter, government assistance payments in the form of loans to businesses and grants to state and local governments increased, while social benefits to households, such as the direct economic impact payments, declined. In the first quarter of 2021, real GDP increased 6.3 percent.
Current Release
https://www.bea.gov/news/2021/gross-domestic-product-third-estimate-gdp-industry-and-corporate-profits-revised-2nd