GDP and the Economy

Second Estimates for the Third Quarter of 2023

Real gross domestic product (GDP) increased at an annual rate of 5.2 percent in the third quarter of 2023, according to the “second” estimate of the National Income and Product Accounts (chart 1 and table 1).1 In the second quarter, real GDP increased 2.1 percent.

The increase in third-quarter real GDP reflected increases in consumer spending, private inventory investment, exports, state and local government spending, federal government spending, residential fixed investment, and nonresidential fixed investment. Imports, which are a subtraction in the calculation of GDP, increased (chart 2 and table 1).2

  • The increase in consumer spending reflected increases in both services and goods. Within services, the leading contributors were housing and utilities, food services and accommodations, and health care. Within goods, the leading contributors to the increase were recreational goods and vehicles as well as other nondurable goods (led by prescription drugs).
  • Within private inventory investment, the increase was in nonfarm inventories, led by wholesale trade, manufacturing, and retail trade industries.
  • Within exports, both goods and services increased. The increase in goods was led by capital goods, except automotive; automotive vehicles, engines, and parts; and nondurable consumer goods, except food and automotive. Partly offsetting these increases was a decrease in other exports of goods. The increase in services was led by travel that was partly offset by decreases in other business services and charges for the use of intellectual property.
  • The increase in state and local government spending primarily reflected increases in gross investment in structures and state and local government employee compensation.
  • The increase in federal government spending reflected increases in both defense and nondefense spending.
    • The increase in defense spending was led by spending on services.
    • The increase in nondefense spending primarily reflected lower sales of crude oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, based on data from the U.S. Department of Energy. Within the National Economic Accounts, sales are deducted from government consumption expenditures; therefore, a decrease in sales results in a corresponding increase in consumption expenditures. Because the oil sold by the government enters private inventories, there is no direct net effect on GDP.
  • The increase in residential fixed investment primarily reflected an increase in new single-family construction. Partly offsetting this increase was a decrease in brokers’ commissions and other ownership transfer costs.
  • The increase in nonresidential fixed investment reflected increases in structures and intellectual property products that were partly offset by a decrease in equipment. The increase in structures was led by manufacturing structures. The increase in intellectual property products was led by software. The decrease in equipment was led by information processing equipment (mainly computers and peripherals equipment).
  • Within imports, both goods and services increased. Within goods, the increase was led by automotive vehicles, engines, and parts; nondurable consumer goods, except food and automotive; and other imports of goods. Partly offsetting these increases was a decrease in industrial supplies and materials (mainly durable goods). Within services, the leading contributor to the increase was transport (which includes air transportation) that was partly offset by a decrease in other business services.

Compared to the second quarter, the acceleration in GDP in the third quarter primarily reflected accelerations in consumer spending and private inventory investment and an upturn in exports. These movements were partly offset by a deceleration in nonresidential fixed investment. Imports turned up.

The U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis’ (BEA’s) featured measure of inflation in the U.S. economy, the price index for gross domestic purchases (goods and services purchased by U.S. residents), increased 3.0 percent in the third quarter after increasing 1.4 percent in the second quarter (table 2 and chart 3).

Within gross domestic purchases, food prices increased 1.9 percent in the third quarter after increasing 0.1 percent in the second quarter. Prices for energy goods and services increased 16.0 percent after decreasing 15.6 percent. Excluding food and energy, gross domestic purchases prices increased 2.7 percent after increasing 2.1 percent.

The price index for personal consumption expenditures (PCE) increased 2.8 percent in the third quarter after increasing 2.5 percent in the second quarter. The increase in PCE prices reflected increases in prices for both services and goods.

  • Within services, price increases were widespread. The leading contributors were housing and utilities (mainly accounted for by housing), financial services and insurance (led by financial service charges, fees, and commissions) as well as health care (led by hospitals).
  • Within goods, the leading contributor to the increase was gasoline and other energy goods (led by motor vehicle fuels, lubricants, and fluids) that was partly offset by a decrease in recreational goods and vehicles (led by video, audio, photographic, and information processing equipment and media).

Excluding food and energy, the “core” PCE price index increased 2.3 percent in the third quarter after increasing 3.7 percent in the second quarter.

Measured in current dollars, personal income increased $218.3 billion in the third quarter, compared with an increase of $224.1 billion (revised) in the second quarter (table 3). The increase in the third quarter primarily reflected increases in compensation (led by private wages and salaries), nonfarm proprietors’ income, and personal interest income that were partly offset by a decrease in personal current transfer receipts.

Personal current taxes increased $74.3 billion in the third quarter after decreasing $59.8 billion (revised) in the second quarter.

Current-dollar disposable personal income (DPI) increased $144.0 billion, or 2.9 percent, in the third quarter after increasing $284.0 billion (revised), or 5.8 percent, in the second quarter. Personal outlays increased $356.2 billion after increasing $204.6 billion.

Real DPI (chart 4) increased 0.1 percent in the third quarter after increasing 3.3 percent (revised) in the second quarter. Current-dollar DPI is deflated by the implicit price deflator for consumer spending, which increased 2.8 percent in the third quarter after increasing 2.5 percent in the second quarter.

The personal saving rate (chart 5)—personal saving as a percentage of DPI—was 4.0 percent in the third quarter, compared with 5.1 percent (revised) in the second quarter.

With the release of the second estimate of GDP, BEA also released revised estimates of second-quarter wages and salaries, personal taxes, and contributions for government social insurance, based on updated data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages.

  • Wages and salaries are now estimated to have increased $167.8 billion in the second quarter, a downward revision of $16.5 billion.
  • Personal current taxes are now estimated to have decreased $59.8 billion, a downward revision of $2.9 billion.
  • Contributions for government social insurance are now estimated to have increased $20.1 billion, a downward revision of $2.2 billion.
  • With the incorporation of these new data, real gross domestic income is now estimated to have increased 0.5 percent in the second quarter, a downward revision of 0.2 percentage point from the previously published estimate.

The increase in third-quarter real GDP was revised up 0.3 percentage point from the “advance” estimate, primarily reflecting upward revisions to nonresidential fixed investment, state and local government spending, residential fixed investment, and private inventory investment, that were partly offset by a downward revision to consumer spending (table 4). Imports were revised down.

  • The revision to nonresidential fixed investment mainly reflected an upward revision to structures, led by commercial and health care (mainly warehouses).
  • The revision to state and local government spending primarily reflected an upward revision to structures investment.
  • The revision to residential fixed investment primarily reflected upward revisions to single-family structures and improvements.
  • Within private inventory investment, the upward revision was led by wholesale trade industries (led by machinery equipment).
  • The revision to consumer spending reflected downward revisions to spending for both services and goods. For services, the largest contributors were financial services and insurance (led by financial services indirectly measured) and other services (led by professional and other services). For goods, the largest contributor was motor vehicles and parts (led by used light trucks).
  • Within imports, the downward revision was to services imports, specifically transport and travel.

Measured in current dollars, profits from current production (corporate profits with the inventory valuation adjustment and the capital consumption adjustment) increased $105.7 billion, or 3.3 percent at a quarterly rate, in the third quarter. In the second quarter, profits increased $6.9 billion, or 0.2 percent (table 5). Domestic profits of financial corporations increased $18.8 billion, domestic profits of nonfinancial corporations increased $76.2 billion, and rest-of-the-world profits (net) increased $10.7 billion in the third quarter.

 


  1. “Real” estimates are in chained (2017) dollars, and price indexes are chain-type measures. Each GDP estimate for a quarter (advance, second, and third) incorporates increasingly comprehensive and improved source data; for more information, see “The Revisions to GDP, GDI, and Their Major Components” in the January 2018 Survey of Current Business. Quarterly estimates are expressed at seasonally adjusted annual rates, which reflect a rate of activity for a quarter as if it were maintained for a year.
  2. In this article, “consumer spending” refers to “personal consumption expenditures,” “inventory investment” refers to “change in private inventories,” and “government spending” refers to “government consumption expenditures and gross investment.”