UPDATE - US economy expands 1.3% in Q1, below estimates

UPDATES WITH ADDITIONAL FIGURES

By Ovunc Kutlu

ISTANBUL (AA) - The US economy expanded 1.3% in the first quarter of 2024, according to the Commerce Department's second reading released Thursday.

The figure is revised down from the first reading of 1.6% made last month.

The market expectation for the figure was to show a gain of 1.6%.

The American economy expanded by 3.4% in the fourth quarter of 2023.

The current dollar GDP increased 4.3% at an annual rate, or $298.9 billion, in the first quarter to reach $28.26 trillion, the Commerce Department said in a statement.

This is a downward revision of $28.6 billion from the previous estimate that was made in April, it added.

Personal income increased $404.4 billion in the first quarter, a downward revision of $2.6 billion from the previous estimate, according to the agency.

"The increase in the first quarter primarily reflected increases in compensation, led by private wages and salaries, and personal current transfer receipts, led by government social benefits to persons," said the statement.

Disposable personal income, meanwhile, increased $266.7 billion, or 5.3% in the January-March period, which is an upward revision of $40.5 billion from the earlier estimate made last month.

Personal saving was $796.6 billion in the first quarter, an upward revision of $96.6 billion from the previous estimate.

"The personal saving rate — personal saving as a percentage of disposable personal income — was 3.8 percent in the first quarter, an upward revision of 0.2 percentage point," the statement said.

Real gross domestic income increased 1.5% in the January-March period, following a gain of 3.6% in the October-December of 2023.