4Q2010 Gross Domestic Product: Third Estimate

Click image for larger version

The Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) raised its final estimate of the 4Q2010 rate of growth in real U.S. gross domestic product (GDP). The U.S. economy expanded at a 3.1 percent seasonally adjusted and annualized rate -- down slightly from the original estimate of 3.2 percent but up from the 2.8 percent estimated last month. This revision leaves 4Q GDP growth higher than the 2.6 percent growth rate in 3Q. Personal consumption expenditures (PCE) and net exports (NetX) contributed to growth while private domestic investment (PDI) subtracted from it. Government consumption expenditures were more of a “drag” on growth than originally thought.
 

Click image for larger version

Looking at 2010 as a whole, real GDP increased 2.9 percent (that is, from the 2009 annual level to the 2010 annual level), in contrast to a decrease of 2.6 percent in 2009. The increase in real GDP in 2010 primarily reflected positive contributions from private inventory investment, exports, PCE, nonresidential fixed investment, and federal government spending. Increased imports kept the rate of growth in check.

Current-dollar GDP increased 3.8 percent ($541.4 billion) in 2010 after decreasing 1.7 percent ($250.1 billion) in 2009. Real GDP increased 2.8 percent between 4Q2009 and 4Q2010, a much more robust showing than the 0.2 percent increase during 2009.