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Friday, May 26, 2017
Contact: Jeannine Aversa, (301) 278-9003

GDP INCREASES IN FIRST QUARTER
“Second” estimate of GDP
Real gross domestic product (GDP) increased 1.2 percent in the first quarter of 2017, according to the
“second” estimate released by the Bureau of Economic Analysis. The growth rate was 0.5 percentage
points higher than the “advance” estimate released in April. In the fourth quarter of 2016, real GDP rose
2.1 percent.
First quarter GDP highlights
The increase in real GDP was accounted for by
increases in business investment, housing
investment, consumer spending on services,
and exports. These increases were partly
offset by decreases in inventory investment,
and government spending. Imports, which
are a subtraction from GDP, increased.

Quarter-to-Quarter Growth in Real GDP

6

Percent

4

2

0

-2
Q2

Q3

Q4

Q1

Q2

Q3

Q4

Q1

Q2

Q3

Q4

Q1

Q2

Q3

Q4

Q1

2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
Revisions
Real GDP growth is measured at seasonally adjusted annual rates.
The upward revision to the second estimate
of GDP growth reflected upward revisions in business investment, consumer spending in services, and
state and local government spending. These upward revisions were partly offset by a downward revision
to inventory investment. For more information, see the technical note.

Corporate Profits
Corporate profits decreased 1.9 percent at a quarterly rate in the first quarter of 2017 after increasing
0.5 percent in the fourth quarter of 2016.
Quarter-to-Quarter Growth in Corporate Profits



Profits of domestic nonfinancial
corporations decreased 1.4 percent
after decreasing 4.9 percent.
Profits of domestic financial
corporations decreased 5.5 percent
after increasing 5.4 percent.

8
6
4

Percent



10

2
0
-2
-4
-6
-8



Profits from the rest of the world
increased 1.4 percent after
increasing 11.0 percent.

Q2 Q3
2013

Q4

Q1

Q2 Q3
2014

Q4

Q1

Q2 Q3
2015

Q4

Q1

Q2 Q3
2016

Q4

Q1
2017

Corporate profits growth is measured as the percent change from the previous quarter.

Over the last 4 quarters, corporate profits increased 3.7 percent.

BEA data—including GDP, personal income, the balance of payments, foreign direct investment, the input-output accounts, and
regional economic data—are available at www.bea.gov. E-mail alerts are also available. The “third” estimate of GDP for the first
quarter of 2017 will be released on June 29, 2017.