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3Q GDP revised lower
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December 23, 1998: 9:05 a.m. ET
Final growth figure is 3.7 percent; price deflator revised higher
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WASHINGTON (CNNfn) - The final third-quarter gross domestic product annualized growth rate was 3.7 percent, revised down from the 3.9 percent reported in November, the Commerce Department said Wednesday.
The price deflator, a measure of inflation, was revised to up 1 percent from previously reported figures of up 0.8 percent.
Treasury prices shrugged off the news. The benchmark 30-year bond, down 10/32 before the 8:30 a.m. ET announcement, lost another tick afterwards bringing the yield to 5.15 percent.
"It's remarkable how resilient our economy has been," given the White House scandal and this year's stock market turmoil, said Carl Tannenbaum, an economist at LaSalle National Bank in Chicago.
But Tannenbaum wondered how sustainable that growth will be, given the weakness in trade. The report showed a decline in the annual rate of net exports of $259 billion, higher than the $253.9 billion reported in November.
Helping to spur the 3.7 percent gain was a 4.1 percent increase in personal consumption expenditures, which was abetted in turn by a 5.4 percent gain in spending on services. Spending on durable goods was up 2.4 percent, while spending on non-durable goods was up 2.1 percent.
A 7.9 percent increase in gross private domestic investment was bolstered by a 9.9 percent gain in housing investment.
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