Key Economic Indicators – April 29, 2019

  • Real GDP increased at an annual rate of 3.2% in the first quarter of 2019, according to the “advance” estimate by the Bureau of Economic Analysis. In the fourth quarter of 2018, real GDP increased 2.2%.
  • The price index for gross domestic purchases increased 0.8% in the first quarter of 2019, compared with an increase of 1.7% in the previous quarter. The personal consumption expenditures price index increased 0.6%, compared with an increase of 1.5% in the previous quarter. Excluding food and energy prices, the personal consumption expenditures price index increased 1.3%, compared with an increase of 1.8%.
  • Real final sales of domestic product (GDP less change in private inventories) increased 2.5% in the first quarter, in contrast to an increase of 2.1% in the final quarter of 2018.
  • Current-dollar GDP increased 3.8%, or $197.6 billion, in the first quarter, and reached an annual level of $21.063 trillion.
  • Personal income increased 0.1% in March, while personal consumption expenditures increased 0.9%. Real disposable personal income decreased 0.2% in March, while real personal consumption expenditures increased 0.7%. The personal saving rate – personal saving as a percentage of disposable personal income – was 6.5% in March, compared with 7.3% in February.
  • The Personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index increased 0.2%. Excluding food and energy, the personal consumption expenditures price index (core index) increased less than 0.1%. The headline price index (PCE) was up 1.5% from March 2018, while the core index was up 1.6%
  • New orders for manufactured durable goods increased 2.7% in March, while shipments increased 0.3%. Excluding transportation, new orders increased 0.4%, while shipments decreased 0.1%. Year-to-date new orders were up 3.0% from the same period a year ago, while shipments were up 4.6%.

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