The US economy is cooling. Domestic Product (GDP) controlled this power to 1.3% in the first half of the year, although it beat analysts’ forecasts, which predicted 1.1%, according to the first reading. With this Thursday published in the Bureau of Economic Analysis Department of Commerce (BEA, for the English acronym), the third consecutive above data after the economy contracted in the first half of 2022.
Without annualization, the data were 0.3%, three tenths below those recorded in the last three months of 2022, when the expansion of the world’s largest economy had been 0.6%. Real GDP growth between January and March reflected increases in consumer spending, exports, government spending, and nonresidential fixed investment, which partially offset declines in private inventory and residential fixed investment.
However, compared to the fourth quarter, the slowdown in real GDP observed in the first quarter mainly reflects a decline in private inventories and a slowdown in fixed investment. These movements were partly due to an acceleration in consumer spending, a rebound in exports, and a smaller decline in fixed residential investment. In particular, consumption in the first quarter experienced an annual growth of 3.8%, compared to 1% in the previous quarter, while the government increased by 5.2%, compared to 3.8% in the fourth quarter.
Despite the slowdown at the beginning of 2023, between the effects of the Federal subsidy hikes and the financial turmoil, the US economy grew at a faster rate than the euro zone, which advanced by 0. 1% in the first quarter and this expansion could be reduced, with Germany’s data down to -0.3% from the beginning of the stagnation he recognized.
As for the personal consumption expenditure (PCE) price index, the statistic chosen by the Federal Reserve (H) to monitor inflation, it grew by 4.2% in the quarter, five tenths more than in the previous measure and in line with the initial estimate. However, the underlying index, which excludes food and energy prices from its calculation due to greater volatility, closed the quarter with an increase of 5%, one-tenth more than previously estimated, and six-tenths more than the previous quarter.
