Real Estate and Rental and Leasing Led Growth in the First Quarter
Real estate and rental and leasing; information; and nondurable goods manufacturing were the leading contributors to the increase in U.S. economic growth in the first quarter of 2018. According to gross domestic product (GDP) by industry statistics released by the Bureau of Economic Analysis, 14 of 22 industry groups contributed to the overall 2.0 percent increase in real GDP in the first quarter.
Information services increased 6.8 percent, after decreasing 0.2 percent. The first quarter growth primarily reflected increases to both broadcasting and telecommunications and the publishing industry.
Nondurable goods manufacturing increased 3.8 percent, after increasing 3.1 percent. The first quarter growth primarily reflected increases in petroleum and coal products, as well as food, beverage and tobacco products.
Transportation and warehousing increased 6.4 percent, after increasing 5.4 percent, primarily reflecting an increase in air transportation.
Real GDP growth slowed to 2.0 percent in the first quarter, from 2.9 percent in the fourth quarter. Wholesale trade was the leading contributor to the deceleration in real GDP growth in the first quarter. Real value added for the industry group increased 0.2 percent, after increasing 4.4 percent in the fourth quarter.
Durable goods manufacturing increased 3.2 percent, after increasing 7.2 percent, and was the second leading contributor to the slowdown.
Gross output by industry
Economy-wide, real gross output—principally a measure of an industry's sales or receipts, which includes sales to final users in the economy (GDP) and sales to other industries (intermediate inputs)—increased 2.7 percent in the first quarter. This reflected an increase of 3.2 percent for the private goods-producing sector, 3.0 percent for the private services-producing sector, and 0.3 percent for the government sector. Overall, 13 of 22 industry groups contributed to the increase in real gross output.
Transportation and warehousing increased 6.5 percent, after increasing 0.7 percent. This was the largest increase since the fourth quarter of 2014 and primarily reflected increases in air and truck transportation.
Information services increased 7.2 percent, after increasing 4.2 percent. This industry has increased for seven consecutive quarters.
