News Release

EMBARGOED UNTIL RELEASE AT 8:30 A.M. EDT, Friday, April 28, 2017
BEA 17-19

Gross Domestic Product, 1st quarter 2017 (advance estimate)

Real gross domestic product (GDP) increased at an annual rate of 0.7 percent in the first quarter of 2017
(table 1), according to the "advance" estimate released by the Bureau of Economic Analysis. In the
fourth quarter of 2016, real GDP increased 2.1 percent.

The Bureau emphasized that the first-quarter advance estimate released today is based on source data
that are incomplete or subject to further revision by the source agency (see “Source Data for the
Advance Estimate” on page 2). The "second" estimate for the first quarter, based on more complete
data, will be released on May 26, 2017.

Percent Change from Preceding Period

The increase in real GDP in the first quarter reflected positive contributions from nonresidential fixed
investment, exports, residential fixed investment, and personal consumption expenditures (PCE), that
were offset by negative contributions from private inventory investment, state and local government
spending, and federal government spending. Imports, which are a subtraction in the calculation of GDP,
increased (table 2).

The deceleration in real GDP in the first quarter reflected a deceleration in PCE and downturns in private
inventory investment and in state and local government spending that were partly offset by an upturn in
exports and accelerations in both nonresidential and residential fixed investment.


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Upcoming Annual Update of the National Income and Product Accounts

The annual update of the national income and product accounts, covering the first quarter of 2014
through the first quarter of 2017, will be released along with the "advance" estimate of GDP for the
second quarter of 2017 on July 28.  For more information, see the Technical Note.
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Current-dollar GDP increased 3.0 percent, or $137.9 billion, in the first quarter to a level of $19,007.3
billion. In the fourth quarter, current-dollar GDP increased 4.2 percent, or $194.1 billion (table 1 and
table 3).

The price index for gross domestic purchases increased 2.6 percent in the first quarter, compared with
an increase of 2.0 percent in the fourth quarter (table 4). The PCE price index increased 2.4 percent,
compared with an increase of 2.0 percent. Excluding food and energy prices, the PCE price index
increased 2.0 percent, compared with an increase of 1.3 percent (appendix table A).


Personal Income (table 10)

Current-dollar personal income increased $161.9 billion in the first quarter, compared with an increase
of $154.6 billion in the fourth. The acceleration in personal income primarily reflected an acceleration in
government social benefits to persons that was partly offset by a downturn in personal dividend income.

Disposable personal income increased $121.0 billion, or 3.4 percent, in the first quarter, compared with
an increase of $141.6 billion, or 4.1 percent, in the fourth. Real disposable personal income increased
1.0 percent, compared with an increase of 2.0 percent.

Personal saving was $814.2 billion in the first quarter, compared with $778.9 billion in the fourth. The
personal saving rate -- personal saving as a percentage of disposable personal income -- was 5.7 percent
in the first quarter, compared with 5.5 percent in the fourth.


Source Data for the Advance Estimate

       Information on the assumptions used for unavailable source data in the advance estimate is
provided in a Technical Note that is posted with the news release on BEA’s Web site. Within a few days
after the release, a detailed "Key Source Data and Assumptions" file is posted on the Web site. For
information on updates to GDP, see the "Additional Information" section that follows.

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                            Next release:  May 26, 2017 at 8:30 A.M. EDT
                    Gross Domestic Product:  First Quarter 2017 (Second Estimate)
                    Corporate Profits:  First Quarter 2017 (Preliminary Estimate)

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