WASHINGTON, June 29 (KUNA) -- US real gross domestic product (GDP) decreased at an annual rate of 1.6 percent in the first quarter of 2022, according to the "third" estimate released by the Bureau of Economic Analysis Wednesday.
The Department of Commerce's Bureau of Economic Analysis indicated that in the fourth quarter of 2021, real GDP increased 6.9 percent, noting that in the advance estimate, the decrease in real GDP was 0.1 percent.
It showed that "the update primarily reflects downward revisions to PCE (personal consumption expenditures) and federal government spending that were mostly offset by upward revisions to private inventory investment, nonresidential fixed investment, exports, state and local government spending and residential fixed investment.
It added that in the first quarter, an increase in COVID-19 cases related to the Omicron variant 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, it continued.(end) si.nhq