The Commerce Department released a report on Thursday showing the pace of U.S. economic growth in the first quarter of 2021 was unrevised from the previous estimate.
The report said real gross domestic product spiked by 6.4 percent in the first quarter, matching the estimate provided last month as well as economist estimates.
The unrevised growth came as upward revisions to nonresidential fixed investment, private inventory investment, and exports were offset by an upward revision to imports, which are a subtraction in the calculation of GDP.
The surge in GDP in the first quarter reflected an acceleration from the 4.3 percent jump seen in the fourth quarter of 2020.
The strong first quarter GDP growth reflected increases in consumer spending, nonresidential fixed investment, federal government spending, residential fixed investment, and state and local government spending.
Meanwhile, the positive contributions were partly offset by decreases in private inventory investment and exports as well as an increase in imports.
“The summer will be hot for the U.S. economy,” said Lydia Boussour, Lead U.S. Economist at Oxford Economics. “As the health situation continues to improve, consumers sitting on piles of savings will give into the urge to splurge on services and experiences they felt deprived off during the pandemic.”
“This will translate into a historic burst in consumption and fuel the fastest annual GDP advance since 1951,” she added. “We foresee the economy growing around 7.5% in 2021 with growth averaging about 12% in Q2.”
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