The U.S. economy grew at an annual rate of 2.1% in the second quarter of 2019, according to the advance estimate released by the Bureau of Economic Analysis on Friday. The consensus estimate among economists was GDP growth of 1.9%.
In the first quarter, real GDP increased 3.1%.
The increase in real GDP in the second quarter reflected positive contributions from personal consumption expenditures (PCE), federal government spending, and state and local government spending that were partly offset by negative contributions from private inventory investment, exports, nonresidential fixed investment and residential fixed investment.
Imports, which are a subtraction in the calculation of GDP, increased. The deceleration in real GDP in the second quarter reflected downturns in inventory investment, exports, and nonresidential fixed investment. These downturns were partly offset by accelerations in PCE and federal government spending.
Current-dollar GDP increased 4.6%, or $239.1 billion, in the second quarter to a level of $21.34 trillion. In the first quarter, current-dollar GDP increased 3.9%, or $201.0 billion.
The price index for gross domestic purchases increased 2.2% in the second quarter, compared with an increase of 0.8% in the first quarter. The PCE price index increased 2.3%, compared with an increase of 0.4%. Excluding food and energy prices, the PCE price index increased 1.8%, compared with an increase of 1.1%.
