UPDATE - US economy expands 1.4% in 1st quarter, final reading shows

UPDATES WITH ADDITIONAL FIGURES

By Ovunc Kutlu

ISTANBUL (AA) - The US economy expanded 1.4% in the first quarter of 2024, according to the Commerce Department's third and final reading released Thursday.

The figure is slightly revised up from the second reading of 1.3% made last month.

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

The current dollar GDP increased 4.5% at an annual rate, or $312.2 billion, in the first quarter to reach $28.77 trillion, the Commerce Department said in a statement.

This is an upward revision of approximately $13.2 billion from the previous estimate that was made in May, it added.

The second reading last month showed the current dollar GDP increasing 4.3% at an annual rate, or $298.9 billion, to stand at $28.26 trillion.

Personal income increased $396.8 billion in the first quarter, a downward revision of $7.7 billion from the previous estimate, according to the agency.

"The increase 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 $240.2 billion, or 4.8% in the January-March period, which is a downward revision of $26.6 billion from the earlier estimate made last month.

Personal saving was $777.3 billion in the first quarter, a downward revision of $19.3 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, the same as the previous estimate," the statement said.

Real gross domestic income increased 1.3% in the January-March period, a downward revision of 0.2 percentage point from the previous estimate.