VCG Monthly Review July 2015

US second quarter real GDP came in at a 2.3% annualized rate (a.r.), according to the advance estimate released by the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA). This was at the lower end of the consensus range of 1.9% to 3.5%. The second quarter real GDP increase reflected positive contributions from personal consumption expenditures (PCE), exports, state and local government spending, and residential fixed investment that were partly offset by negative contributions from federal government spending, private inventory investment, and nonresidential fixed investment. Imports, which are a subtraction in the calculation of GDP, increased.