News Release

EMBARGOED UNTIL RELEASE AT 8:30 A.M. EDT, FRIDAY, July 19, 2019
BEA 19-33

Gross Domestic Product by Industry: First Quarter 2019

Finance and insurance; retail trade; and health care and social assistance were the leading contributors to the increase in U.S. economic growth in the first quarter of 2019. According to gross domestic product (GDP) by industry statistics released by the Bureau of Economic Analysis, 16 of 22 industry groups contributed to the overall 3.1 percent increase in real GDP in the first quarter.

Real GDP and Real Value Added by Sector

  • For the finance and insurance industry group, real value added—a measure of an industry’s contribution to GDP—increased 9.5 percent in the first quarter, after decreasing 6.2 percent in the fourth quarter. The first quarter growth primarily reflected an increase in insurance carriers and related activities.
  • Retail trade increased 11.9 percent in the first quarter, after decreasing 2.5 percent in the fourth. This primarily reflected an increase in other retail, which includes gasoline stations and pharmacies and drug stores.
  • Health care and social assistance increased 6.2 percent, after increasing 2.4 percent. This was the largest increase since the fourth quarter of 2008.

Real Value Added by Industry

Other highlights

  • Nondurable goods manufacturing increased 8.4 percent in the first quarter, after increasing 1.1 percent in the fourth quarter. The first quarter growth primarily reflected increases in petroleum and coal products.
  • Information services increased 4.5 percent, after increasing 8.9 percent. The first quarter growth primarily reflected increases in data processing, internet publishing, and other information services, as well as publishing industries.
  • Education services increased 4.3 percent, after decreasing 1.9 percent.

Gross output by industry

Economy-wide, real gross output—principally a measure of an industry’s sales or receipts, which includes sales to final users in the economy (GDP) and sales to other industries (intermediate inputs)—increased 1.6 percent in the first quarter. This reflected an increase of 2.8 percent for the private goods-producing sector, 1.3 percent for the private services-producing sector, and 0.3 percent for the government sector. Overall, 14 of 22 industry groups contributed to the increase in real gross output.

Real Gross Output by Industry

  • Real gross output for information services increased 4.7 percent in the first quarter, after increasing 5.3 percent in the fourth quarter. The increase was primarily attributed to the publishing industry, which includes software.
  • Finance and insurance increased 4.2 percent, after increasing 5.1 percent.
  • Health care and social assistance increased 7.1 percent, after increasing 4.7 percent. The first quarter growth reflected increases in hospitals and ambulatory health care services.

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Next release – October 29, 2019 at 8:30 A.M. EDT for:
Gross Domestic Product by Industry: Second Quarter 2019
Annual Update of the Industry Economic Accounts