GDPNow "Real Final Sales" Forecast Remains 1.1%

The GDPNow forecast continues its trend of "falling like a rock" over the course of a quarter. Meanwhile, "I am a Rock" best describes the Federal Reserve Bank of New York (FRBNY) Nowcast.

GDPNow Latest Forecast: 1.8 Percent - March 23, 2018

• The GDPNow model estimate for real GDP growth (seasonally adjusted annual rate) in the first quarter of 2018 is 1.8 percent on March 23, unchanged from March 16.
• After this morning’s advance durable manufacturing report from the U.S. Census Bureau, the nowcast of first-quarter real nonresidential equipment investment growth increased from 5.8 percent to 6.2 percent and the nowcast of the contribution of inventory investment to first-quarter real GDP growth decreased from 0.72 percentage points to 0.66 percentage points.
• The nowcast of first-quarter real residential investment growth increased from –3.1 percent to –1.6 percent after Wednesday's existing-home sales release from the National Association of Realtors, but fell back to –2.4 percent after this morning's releases on new-home sales and construction prices from the Census Bureau.

Nowcast Latest Forecast: 1.8 Percent - March 23, 2018

• The New York Fed Staff Nowcast stands at 2.9% for 2018:Q1 and 3.0% for 2018:Q2.
• News from this week’s data releases increased the nowcast for both quarters by 0.2 percentage point.
• A positive surprise from manufacturers' inventories and the positive impact of data revisions accounted for the increase.

Musical Tribute

Take the GDPNow forecast as a reasonable over-under bet. The Nowcast seems way too high.