US real GDP rises at annual rate of 6.7% in Q2 2021: BEA

Upward revisions to personal consumption expenditures (PCE), exports, and private inventory investment were partly offset by an upward revision to imports, which are a subtraction in the calculation of GDP, BEA said in a release.

In the second quarter, government assistance payments in the form of loans to businesses and grants to state and local governments increased, while social benefits to households, such as the direct economic impact payments, declined.

The full economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic cannot be quantified in the GDP estimate for the second quarter because the impact is generally embedded in source data and cannot be separately identified.

The increase in real GDP in the second quarter reflected increases in PCE, non-residential fixed investment, exports and state and local government spending that were partly offset by decreases in private inventory investment, residential fixed investment and federal government spending.

The increase in PCE reflected a rise in services (led by food services and accommodations) and goods (led by other non-durable goods, notably pharmaceutical products, as well as clothing and footwear).

The decrease in private inventory investment was led by a decrease in retail trade inventories. The decrease in federal government spending primarily reflected a decrease in non-defence spending on intermediate goods and services.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (DS)