2nd straight GDP increase

From the BEA report this week:

Real gross domestic product — the output of goods and services produced by labor and property located in the United States — increased at an annual rate of 5.7 percent in the fourth quarter of 2009, (that is, from the third quarter to the fourth quarter), according to the “advance” estimate released by the Bureau of Economic Analysis.
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The increase in real GDP in the fourth quarter primarily reflected positive contributions from private inventory investment, exports, and personal consumption expenditures (PCE). Imports, which are a subtraction in the calculation of GDP, increased.

The acceleration in real GDP in the fourth quarter primarily reflected an acceleration in private inventory investment, a deceleration in imports, and an upturn in nonresidential fixed investment that were partly offset by decelerations in federal government spending and in PCE.
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Real personal consumption expenditures increased 2.0 percent in the fourth quarter, compared with an increase of 2.8 percent in the third.
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Real nonresidential fixed investment increased 2.9 percent in the fourth quarter, in contrast to a decrease of 5.9 percent in the third. Nonresidential structures decreased 15.4 percent, compared with a decrease of 18.4 percent. Equipment and software increased 13.3 percent, compared with an increase of 1.5 percent. Real residential fixed investment increased 5.7 percent, compared with an increase of 18.9 percent.

Any analysis of the Q4 GDP report has to start with the change in private inventories. This change contributed a majority of the increase in GDP, and annualized Q4 GDP growth would have been 2.3% without the transitory increase from inventory changes. Unfortunately – although expected – the two leading sectors, residential investment (RI) and personal consumption expenditures (PCE), both slowed in Q4. PCE slowed from 2.8% annualized growth in Q3 to 2.0% in Q4. RI slowed from 18.9% in Q3 to just 5.7% in Q4. It is not a surprise that both key leading sectors are struggling. The personal saving rate increased slightly to 4.6% in Q4, and I expect the saving rate to increase over the next year or two to around 8% – as households repair their balance sheets – and that will be a constant drag on PCE. And there is no reason to expect a sustained increase in RI until the excess housing inventory is absorbed. In fact, based on recent reports of housing starts and new home sales, there is a good chance that residential investment will be a slight drag on GDP in Q1 2010. (Source: Calculated Risk)

Most economists reaction: It’s too soon to declare recovery accomplished. Click here.
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