Real gross domestic product for the U.S. increased at an annual rate of 0.7 percent in the first quarter of 2017, according to the "advance" estimate released by the Bureau of Economic Analysis. In the fourth quarter, real GDP increased 2.1 percent.
The increase in real GDP in the first quarter reflected positive contributions from nonresidential fixed investment, exports, residential fixed investment, and personal consumption expenditures that were offset by negative contributions from private inventory investment, state and local government spending, and federal government spending. Imports, which are a subtraction in the calculation of GDP, increased.
The deceleration in real GDP in the first quarter reflected a deceleration in PCE and downturns in private inventory investment and in state and local government spending that were partly offset by an upturn in exports and accelerations in both nonresidential and residential fixed investment.
The price index for gross domestic purchases increased 2.6 percent in the first quarter, compared with an increase of 2 percent in the fourth quarter. The PCE price index increased 2.4 percent, compared with an increase of 2 percent. Excluding food and energy prices, the PCE price index increased 2 percent, compared with an increase of 1.3 percent.
