Second-Quarter GDP, Final Revision

Real GDP advanced at an annualized rate of 2.8 percent in the second quarter, according to the final release from the Bureau of Economic Analysis. This is a downward revision of 0.5 percentage point from the preliminary estimate, but it is still up 0.9 percentage point from the advance estimate. The downward adjustment (from preliminary to final) was largely due to a revision to real consumption growth, from an increase of 1.7 percent to 1.2 percent. Exports were also revised down from an increase of 13.2 percent to 12.3 percent, while the decrease in imports was revised up from −7.5 percent to −7.3 percent. Inventories decreased by $50.6 billion, according to the final estimate, down from a subtraction of $39.2 billion in the previous estimate. On a positive note, the contraction in residential investment, which has been quite a large drag on growth lately, was revised up 2.5 percentage points, to a decrease of −13.3 percent. While still negative, this is a considerable improvement over the −25.0 percent in the first quarter.