Advance Estimate of GDP for the First Quarter of 2011
Today’s report shows that the economy posted the seventh straight quarter of positive growth, as real GDP, the total amount of goods and services produced in the country, grew at a 1.8 percent annual rate in the first quarter of this year. While the continued expansion is encouraging, clearly, faster growth is needed to replace the jobs lost in the downturn.
Some key components of GDP continued to expand in the first quarter. Consumer spending rose 2.7 percent at an annual rate, boosted by a 2.9 percent increase in real disposable income that was due in part to the cut in payroll taxes. Equipment and software investment increased 11.6 percent. Spending components that subtracted from GDP included construction of nonresidential structures (-21.7 percent), federal spending (-7.9 percent), and state and local government spending (-3.3 percent). On the production side, goods production rose at a 9.3 percent, roughly consistent with the previously-reported 9.1 percent increase in manufacturing industrial production.
These data indicate that the measures put in place by this Administration – such as the payroll tax cut and business incentives for investment – are helping to foster growth. We will continue to work with Congress to find ways to reduce spending, so that we can live within our means and focus on the investments that are most likely to help grow our economy and create jobs – investments in education, infrastructure, and clean energy.
Austan Goolsbee is Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers
White House Blogs
- The White House Blog
- Middle Class Task Force
- Council of Economic Advisers
- Council on Environmental Quality
- Council on Women and Girls
- Office of Intergovernmental Affairs
- Office of Management and Budget
- Office of Public Engagement
- Office of Science & Tech Policy
- Office of Urban Affairs
- Open Government
- Faith and Neighborhood Partnerships
- Social Innovation and Civic Participation
- US Trade Representative
- Office National Drug Control Policy
categories
- Blueprint for an America Built to Last
- Equal Pay
- White House Internships
- Civil Rights
- Defense
- Disabilities
- Economy
- Education
- Energy and Environment
- Ethics
- Family
- Fiscal Responsibility
- Foreign Policy
- Health Care
- Homeland Security
- Immigration
- Inside the White House
- Poverty
- Rural
- Seniors and Social Security
- Service
- Taxes
- Technology
- Urban Policy
- Veterans
- Women
- Additional Issues