“U.S. jobless claims dip to 218K, signaling labor market strength, while Q2 GDP growth holds at 3%, driven by strong consumer spending and inventories.”, — write: www.fxempire.com
Key contributors to the revision include an upward adjustment in private inventory investment and federal government spending, while nonresidential fixed investment and exports were revised downward. Imports, which detract from GDP, were revised upward but did not significantly affect the overall economic growth figure.
Consumer spending was particularly strong, and its acceleration from Q1 was a critical factor in the overall GDP rise. Conversely, residential fixed investment showed signs of weakness, partially offsetting the positive economic trends.
Corporate Profits See Upward Revisions Corporate profits also saw substantial upward revisions in Q2 2024, with an increase of $132.5 billion. Domestic nonfinancial corporations led the charge with a $108.8 billion gain, while domestic financial corporations saw a modest $42.5 billion increase. However, profits from the rest of the world decreased by $18.8 billion.
Real Gross Domestic Income (GDI) was revised up to 3.4%, marking a significant upward adjustment of 2.1 percentage points. This led to a supplemental measure of U.S. economic activity, the average of real GDP and GDI, rising 3.2%.
Durable Goods Orders Remain Flat The latest data on durable goods orders for August showed little change, increasing by just $0.1 billion to $289.7 billion. This follows a strong 9.9% increase in July. Excluding transportation, orders rose 0.5%, driven by electrical equipment and appliances, which increased by 1.9%. However, excluding defense orders, the data shows a slight 0.2% decline.