Feeling that Bush Boom economy? No?
It’s quite possible that the current soft patch, to use a popular phrase, in the economy is mostly or even entirely due to the high price for crude oil, but the patch is still soft and I’m not particularly optimistic about it firming any time soon.
What is worrying is that there are so many economic stimulants out there, yet the economy is just slugging along.
Real gross domestic product — the output of goods and services produced by labor and property located in the United States — increased at an annual rate of 3.1 percent in the first quarter of 2005, according to advance estimates released by the Bureau of Economic Analysis. In the fourth quarter, real GDP increased 3.8 percent.
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Real personal consumption expenditures increased 3.5 percent in the first quarter, compared with an increase of 4.2 percent in the fourth. Durable goods purchases were unchanged, in contrast to an increase of 3.9 percent. Nondurable goods purchases increased 4.9 percent, compared with an increase of 5.9 percent. Services expenditures increased 3.6 percent, compared with an increase of 3.4 percent.
Real nonresidential fixed investment increased 4.7 percent in the first quarter, compared with an increase of 14.5 percent in the fourth. Nonresidential structures decreased 2.6 percent, in contrast to an increase of 2.1 percent. Equipment and software increased 6.9 percent, compared with an increase of 18.4 percent. Real residential fixed investment increased 5.7 percent, compared with an increase of 3.4
percent.Real exports of goods and services increased 7.0 percent in the first quarter, compared with an increase of 3.2 percent in the fourth. Real imports of goods and services increased 14.7 percent, compared with an increase of 11.4 percent.
