Thursday, August 27, 2009

Bull Trip!: GDP Report Q2 2009 (Preliminary)

Today, the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) released their second installment of the Q2 2009 GDP report showing a continued contraction with GDP declining at an annual rate of -1.0%.

Easily the most notable features of today’s report are the significant declines to residential and non-residential fixed investment as well as to personal consumption expenditures and exports of both goods and services.

Fixed investment provided a significant drag on growth with non-residential investment declining -10.9% while residential investment declined -22.8%.

Making a positive contribution to GDP were significant declines to imports of goods and services slumping -15.1%.

The following chart shows real residential and non-residential fixed investment versus overall GDP since Q1 2003 (click for larger version).