Tag Archives: Bureau of Economic Analysis

Consumers kept their cash--and credit cards--in their wallets in July as personal spending rose just 0.1 percent, while income increased 0.2 percent, the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) reported Friday. Economists had expected income to grow 0.2 percent but thought spending would increase 0.3 percent.

Second quarter growth was calculated at a seasonally adjusted annual 2.5 percent rate, a sharp increase from the 1.7 percent initially reported for gross domestic product (GDP), the broadest measure of the nation's economy, a month ago.

Personal spending in June grew 0.5 percent, its fastest pace February while personal income rose 0.3 percent, the Bureau of Economic Analysis reported Friday. Economists had expected income and spending each to grow 0.4 percent. With spending exceeding income, personal savings fell $21.7 billion in June, and the personal savings rate dropped to 4.4 percent from 4.6 percent in May.

Adding new pressures for the Federal Reserve, the nation's economy added 195,000 jobs in June, leaving the unemployment rate unchanged at 7.6.percent, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported Friday. Economists had forecast payrolls would grow by 165,000, and that the unemployment rate would dip to 7.5 percent.

While the reaction to Thursday's report on personal income and spending for May was largely positive, it may have also been misplaced.

With a boost from the calendar, personal income rose 0.5 percent in May--faster than economists had forecast--while personal consumption went up an unsurprising 0.3 percent the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) reported Thursday.

The Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) put GDP growth a 1.8 percent annual rate in the first quarter, a drop from the previous estimate of 2.4 percent. The downward revision to GDP came amidst positive news about the economy. Home prices, according to the Case-Shiller Index released Tuesday, rose at their fastest pace ever in April and consumer confidence, as reported by the Conference Board, increased for the third straight month. Residential fixed investment was reported as $399 billion, up slightly from the second report.

The recent slip in financial corporation profits comes at a particularly critical time for the financial sector, as housing is in the midst of a nascent recovery.

Restrained by drops in farm income and sequester-driven cuts in government programs, personal income slipped $5.6 billion in April, while personal consumption spending dropped $20.5 billion, the Bureau of Economic Analysis reported Friday.

The nation's economy grew at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 2.4 percent in the first quarter, slightly slower than originally reported, the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) said Thursday. At the same time, BEA said corporate profits in the first quarter were $1.97 trillion, down almost $44 billion from the fourth quarter. The last time corporate profits showed a quarter-over-quarter decline was in the first quarter of 2012. Corporate profits are considered a key indicator of employment trends.