The top line number for VS gross national product is a composite of positive and negative forces, and the details are important:
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consumer spendingthat powers most of the economy rose 1 percent year-on-year, a marked slowdown from previous months when purchases of goods fell and spending on services grew only moderately.
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housingAlso called residential fixed investment, it fell 14 percent year-on-year under the weight of rising interest rates, putting mortgages out of reach for more potential homebuyers.
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stocks, which measures the amount of stuff produced or imported but not yet sold, depressed the total number by more than two percentage points year on year. Companies continued to add inventories in the second quarter, but more slowly than in the first, slowing overall growth.
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business construction, known as fixed asset investment in non-residential construction, it plunged 11.7 percent year-on-year as factory and warehouse construction — another interest-rate sensitive sector — slowed.
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federal government spending shrank 3.2 percent year-on-year as stimulus funds continued to drain and oil was released from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, although defense spending rose 2.5 percent as military aid poured into Ukraine.
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Final sale to domestic buyerswhich some economists prefer as a measure that reduces volatile inventories and government spending fell 0.3 percent.
(All figures are reported on a seasonally adjusted basis.)