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THURSDAY August 30, 2007

GDP ACCELERATES IN THE SECOND QUARTER
Corporate Profits Increase
The economy grew at an annual rate of 4.0 percent in the second quarter, compared with 0.6 percent in the first
quarter, according to the “preliminary” estimates released by the Bureau of Economic Analysis. The secondquarter growth rate was revised up from the “advance” estimate of 3.4 percent.
Gross Domestic Product (GDP)
The acceleration in GDP growth reflected upturns in net exports, Federal government spending, and inventory
investment, an acceleration in business investment, and a smaller decrease in residential home investment. In
contrast, consumer spending decelerated sharply.
The upward revision to GDP growth resulted mainly from the inclusion of newly available source data that
showed greater increases in business investment and net exports.
Quarter-to-Quarter Growth in Real GDP
8

Percent

6

4

2

0
III

IV
2003

I

II

III IV
2004

I

II

III IV
2005

I

II

III IV
2006

I

II
2007

Real GDP growth is measured at seasonally adjusted annual rates.

Corporate Profits
Second-quarter corporate profits increased 4.5 percent from the same quarter a year ago. Net corporate profits
earned abroad increased 21.1 percent.

Year-over-Year Growth in Corporate Profits
30
25

Percent

20
15
10
5
0
III

2003

IV

I

II

III

2004

IV

I

II

III

2005

IV

I

II

III

2006

IV

I

II

2007

Corporate profits growth is measured as the percent change from the same quarter one year ago.

BEA data—including GDP, personal income, the balance of payments, foreign direct investment, the input-output accounts, and
economic data for states, local areas, and industries—are available on the BEA Web site: www.bea.gov. E-mail alerts are also available.
NOTE: Additional information that becomes available in the coming weeks will be incorporated in a “final” estimate of second-quarter
GDP on September 27, 2007. A revised estimate of corporate profits will also be released.
Contact: Ralph Stewart 202–606–2649

Bureau of Economic Analysis, U.S. Department of Commerce