Multinationals propping up U.S. economic growth
With the government now reining in outlays, America's biggest companies are providing the economic stimulus.
The headline GDP growth figure would have been 1.1 percentage points higher but for a decline in government spending.
And gross private sector output grew at an annual pace of 3.6 percent in the quarter, up from a 2.6 percent growth rate for 2010 as a whole suggesting an acceleration in productive output as the government's post-crisis efforts at stimulus are withdrawn.
Meanwhile, gross national product grew at a 3.1 percent rate in the quarter. GNP is based on ownership rather than geography and so includes income from U.S. investments abroad, net of payments to foreigners.
Net receipts jumped 26 percent from $160 billion to $202 billion at an annual rate. Even in a $15 trillion economy, that's a sizable contribution to growth from the country's multinationals, and demonstrates that their profitability and growth can still overcome some of the drag from America's huge budget and payments deficits.
That's all despite the fact that the first quarter GDP report was somewhat disquieting when viewed at the consumer level. Final sales to domestic purchasers rose at only a 0.7 percent annual rate, while inventories increased by $52 billion, a potential cause of future weakness if the build-up reverses.
The U.S. savings rate also declined further to 5.1 percent, suggesting consumers are still not rebuilding their reserves.
Overall, though, the latest data hint at a healthy shift away from government spending and toward the private sector and the global economy.
Logical policy responses include increasing interest rates, thereby providing an incentive for the rebuilding of America's capital base, and encouraging free trade to the benefit of U.S. multinationals.
Another lesson can be found in the private sector's ability to keep growth going even as government spending shrinks. With luck, policymakers across the spectrum will see the benefit of helping rather than hindering this rebalancing.
The second estimate of U.S. GDP for the first quarter of 2011 showed an annual rate of increase of 1.8 percent.
Rising inventories accounted for 1.2 percentage points of growth. Government spending declined at a 5.1 percent annual rate, subtracting 1.1 percentage points from the growth rate.
Gross national product increased at an annual rate of 3.1 percent in the first quarter. Income receipts from the rest of the world, net of payments, rose from $160 billion to $202 billion.
The personal savings rate was 5.1 percent for the first quarter, down from 5.4 percent in the fourth quarter of 2010 and 6.0 percent in the third quarter.
Copyright Reuters, 2011