U.S. GDP growth remained at a healthy 6.4% in Q1 - TD Bank Financial Group

ActionForex reports that analysts at TD Bank Financial Group discuss the Commerce Department's second estimate of the U.S. real gross domestic product (GDP) for the first quarter of 2021.

"Real GDP grew 6.4% (annualized) in the first quarter, unchanged from the first estimate."

"Upward revisions to consumer spending and business investment were offset by downward revisions to exports and inventories."

"The core PCE deflator was also revised up 0.2 percentage points to 2.5% (quarter/quarter, annualized), due to upward revisions for used vehicle prices."

"There was not a lot of new news in today’s GDP revisions, but overall the details were pretty positive. Consumer spending and business investment were a little stronger than previously reported, while the impact on the headline was dampened by a larger inventory drawdown and weaker demand from abroad."

"Looking ahead to the second quarter, the more important piece of data this week is the April personal income and spending numbers, which will be released tomorrow. Retail sales were flat in April, but the monthly PCE numbers include spending on services, which we expect to continue to ramp up as more Americans are fully vaccinated and local restrictions are eased. So far, growth in Q2 is tracking more than 10% annualized, driven by another round of double-digit growth for consumer spending. Tomorrow’s data will firm up expectations on that score."