Full text of U.S. Financial Data : May 6, 1999

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May 6, 1999

USFinancialData
THE WEEK'S HIGHLIGHTS:
Real GDP rose at a 4.5 percent annual rate during the first quarter
according to the advance estimate. Growth of real personal
consumption expenditures (6.7 percent), business fixed investment
(9.9 percent), and residential investment (15.6 percent) all
contributed strongly for the second consecutive quarter. At the
same time, real exports fell at a 7.7 percent rate during the first
quarter, while imports rose at an 11.7 percent rate. Real GDP
is up 4 percent over the past four quarters.
Measured against February’s level, the personal consumption
expenditures (PCE) price deflator was virtually unchanged in March.
Still, the PCE deflator rose at a 1 percent annual rate during the
first quarter and also from four quarters earlier. In contrast, the
consumer price index rose 1.5 percent during the first quarter
and is up 1.7 percent from a year earlier.
The composite index of leading economic indicators rose 0.1 percent
in March. For the first quarter, however, the leading index jumped
1 percent, the largest gain since the second quarter of 1983.
Measured in real dollars, construction spending rose $1.6 billion
in March, or 0.3 percent. For the first quarter, construction spending
rose 3.9 percent, the largest rise since the second quarter of 1994.
Yields on 30-year U.S. Treasury securities averaged 5.70 percent
for the week ending May 7, the highest yield since the week ending
July 31, 1998 (see page 7).
All data are seasonally adjusted unless otherwise indicated.
U.S. Financial Data is published weekly by the Research Division of the Federal Reserve Bank of
St. Louis. For more information on data, please call (314) 444-8590. To be added to the mailing
list, please call (314) 444-8808 or (314) 444-8809.
Information in this publication is also included in the Federal Reserve Economic Data (FRED) electronic
bulletin board at (314) 621-1824 or internet World Wide Web server at www.stls.frb.org/fred.