BEA Releases Third Estimate of Fourth Quarter 2021 Gross Domestic Product (GDP)
03.30.2022
COVID-19 Impact on the Fourth-Quarter 2021 GDP Estimate: The increase in fourth quarter GDP reflected the continued economic impact of the COVID-
19 pandemic. In the fourth quarter, COVID-19 cases resulted in continued restrictions and disruptions in the operations of establishments in some parts of the country. Government assistance payments in the form of forgivable loans to businesses, grants to state and local governments, and social benefits to households all decreased as provisions of several federal programs expired or tapered off. The full economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic cannot
be quantified in the GDP estimate for the fourth quarter because the impacts are generally embedded in source data and cannot be separately identified.
Real gross domestic product (GDP) increased at an annual rate of 6.9 percent in the fourth quarter of 2021, according to the "third" estimate released by the Bureau of Economic Analysis. In the third quarter, real GDP increased 2.3 percent. The increase in real GDP primarily reflected increases in private inventory investment, exports, PCE, and nonresidential fixed investment that were partly offset by decreases in both federal and state and local government spending. Imports, which are a subtraction in the calculation of GDP, increased.
The increase in private inventory investment was led by retail and wholesale trade industries. Within retail, inventory investment by motor vehicle dealers was the leading contributor. The increase in exports reflected increases in both goods and services. The increase in exports of goods was
widespread, and the leading contributors were consumer goods, foods, feeds, and beverages, as well as industrial supplies and materials. The increase in exports of services was led by travel. The increase in PCE primarily reflected an increase in services, led by health care, financial services and insurance, and recreation. The increase in nonresidential fixed investment primarily reflected an increase in intellectual property products that was partly offset by a decrease in structures. The decrease in federal government spending primarily reflected a decrease in defense spending on intermediate goods and services. The decrease in state and local government spending reflected a decrease in gross investment (led by new educational structures). The increase in imports primarily reflected an increase in goods (led by nonfood and nonautomotive consumer goods, as well as capital goods). Real GDP accelerated in the fourth quarter, increasing 6.9 percent after increasing 2.3 percent in the third quarter. The acceleration in real GDP primarily reflected an acceleration in private inventory investment, upturns in exports and in residential fixed investment, and an acceleration in consumer spending that were partly offset by a downturn in state and local government spending. Imports accelerated.
Updates to GDP: In the third estimate of the fourth quarter, real GDP increased 6.9 percent, 0.1 percentage point lower than in the second estimate. Downward revisions to PCE, exports, nonresidential fixed investment, and state and local government spending were partly offset by upward revisions to private inventory investment, residential fixed investment, and federal government spending. Imports were revised up.
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