Change In U.S. GDP Could Be No Change

ByJohn S. McClenahen The U.S. Commerce Department is slated to release revised data for second-quarter GDP on Thursday, Aug. 29. The consensus among economists now is that "revised" inflation-adjusted growth will be the same as the initial number: 1.1%. The reason: Revisions to preliminary data are expected to offset each other. For example, suggests Bruce Steinberg, chief economist at Merrill Lynch & Co., New York, substantially lower-than-initially-estimated construction activity will be countered by more-robust-than-first-reported inventory accumulation.