At first glance the annual revision to the national accounts doesn’t appear to have had much of an impact – with second-quarter GDP growth left unchanged at 3.0% and core PCE inflation unchanged at 2.8%. But below the surface, the revisions were all positive. We had feared that, given the gap between GDP and GDI, the former would be revised lower. As it turns out, however, the level of real GDP was revised up by 1.3%, with the gap partly closed by an even bigger 3.8% upward revision to the level of GDI. The additional GDI mostly comes from a 3.5% upward revision to real personal disposable income, which helps to explain why consumption has remained so resilient in recent years. As a result, the second-quarter saving rate was revised up from 3.3% to a much healthier looking 5.2%.
Become a client to read more
This is premium content that requires an active Capital Economics subscription to view.
Already have an account?
You may already have access to this premium content as part of a paid subscription.
Sign in to read the content in full or get details of how you can access it
Register for free
Sign up for a free account to:
- Unlock additional content
- Register for Capital Economics events
- Receive email updates and economist-curated newsletters
- Request a free trial of our services