The U.S. economy is expanding at a 4.8 percent annualized rate in the second quarter, the Atlanta Federal Reserve’s GDPNow forecast model showed on Friday.
The forecast has been climbing higher following the release of a series of good economic data. On May 25, the measure foresaw four percent GDP growth. This rose to 4.7 percent Thursday and ticked even higher on Friday following the better than expected jobs report for May.
The Atlanta Fed forecasts a big boost in private sector fixed investment, which includes capital investment in machinery, land, buildings, vehicles, and technology. Earlier, the Atlanta Fed saw this growing at 4.6 percent. But following the release Friday of a construction spending report from the U.S. Census Bureau and the Manufacturing ISM Report On Business from the Institute for Supply Management, this was upgraded to 5.4 percent growth.
Consumer spending is expected to grow at a 4.6 percent rate, up from 3.4 percent prior to the Friday data releases.
The New York Fed’s Nowcast also rose Friday, to 3.5 percent from 3.0 percent a week ago.