While government estimates released Wednesday show the overall U.S. economy contracted, they indicate the sporting goods industry continued to grow.
Real gross domestic product - the value of the production of goods and services in the United States, adjusted for price changes - decreased at an annual rate of 0.7 percent in the first quarter of 2015, according to a second , or revised, estimate released by the Bureau of Economic Analysis, which is a unit of the U.S. Department of Commerce.
An advanced estimate released April 29 had estimated GDP grew 0.2 percent during the quarter. The revised estimate is based on additional data that showed imports, which subtract from GDP, grew more than initially thought, while private inventory grew less than previous estimated.
The estimates mark a significant slowdown from the fourth quarter of 2014 when GDP grew 2.2 percent , according to the BEA's final estimate. The downturn primarily reflects a deceleration in PCE and downturns in exports, in nonresidential fixed investment, and in state and local government spending that were partly offset by a deceleration in imports and upturns in federal government spending and in private inventory investment. BEA estimated prices paid by U.S. residents increased 0.2 percent during the quarter after excluding volatile food and energy prices, marking a big drop from the 0.7 percent preliminary estimate.
The revised first quarter estimates released Friday, however, peg the value of recreational goods and vehicles produced in the United States during the quarter at $517 billion, which represents an increased of .98 percent from the $512.4 billion in the fourth quarter and 10.4 percent from the first quarter of 2014.
By comparison, the value of all goods made in the country grew .11 percent quarter to quarter and 3.9 percent year to year.
