MA's Monthly GDP Index Rose 0.4% in August

Monthly GDP rose 0.4% in August on the heels of a 0.9% increase in July. The two-month increase more than reversed a 1.0% decline over the prior two months (May and June). The increase in August reflected increases in domestic final sales and inventory investment that were partially offset by a decline in net exports. The level of monthly GDP in August was 3.0% above the second-quarter 2.7% annualized growth of GDP in the third quarter assumes a 0.2% increase (not annualized) in September.



This is from a commentary that was published on October 17, 2011.


Technical Note
Macroeconomic Advisers’ index of Monthly GDP (MGDP) is a monthly indicator of real aggregate output that is conceptually consistent with real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in the NIPA’s. The consistency is derived from two sources. First, MGDP is calculated using much of the same underlying monthly source data that is used in the calculation of GDP. Second, the method of aggregation to arrive at MGDP is similar to that for official GDP. Growth of MGDP at the monthly frequency is determined primarily by movements in the underlying monthly source data, and growth of MGDP at the quarterly frequency is nearly identical to growth of real GDP.



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