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Gross Domestic Product
Third Quarter of 2017 (Second Estimate)
November 29, 2017
This technical note provides background information about the source data and estimating methods
used to produce the estimates presented in the GDP news release. The complete set of estimates for
the third quarter is available on BEA's Web site at www.bea.gov; a brief summary of "highlights" is also
posted on the Web site. BEA's source data and assumptions for the "second" estimate are shown in a
"Key Source Data and Assumptions" table on the BEA Web site. In a few weeks, the Survey of Current
Business, BEA’s online monthly journal, will publish a more detailed analysis of the estimates ("GDP and
the Economy").
Sources of Revision to Real GDP
Real GDP increased 3.3 percent (annual rate) in the third quarter of 2017, an upward revision of 0.3
percentage point from the "advance" estimate. The revision primarily reflected upward revisions to
nonresidential fixed investment, state and local government spending, and private inventory
investment.
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The revision to nonresidential fixed investment reflected upward revisions to equipment (mainly
transportation equipment) and to intellectual property products (specifically software) that
were partly offset by a downward revision to structures.
o The revision to equipment reflected revised export and import data for August and
newly available data for September from BEA’s International Transactions Accounts.
o The revision to software reflected newly available data from the Census Bureau’s
Advance Quarterly Services Report.
o The revision to structures reflected revised and newly available data from the Census
Bureau’s Value of Construction Put in Place survey.
The revision to state and local government spending primarily reflected an upward revision to
gross investment in structures based on revised and newly available data from the Census
Bureau’s Value of Construction Put in Place survey.
The revision to private inventory investment reflected an upward revision to manufacturing
industries based on revised and newly available book value data from the Census Bureau's
Manufacturers' Shipments, Inventories, and Orders survey.
Gross Domestic Income and Corporate Profits
Real gross domestic income (GDI), which measures the output of the economy as the incomes earned
and costs incurred in the production of goods and services (as measured by GDP), increased 2.5 percent
in the third quarter. The average of real GDP and real GDI increased 2.9 percent.
Profits from current production increased $91.6 billion, or 4.3 percent (quarterly rate), in the third
quarter. Domestic profits of financial corporations increased $60.6 billion, domestic profits of
nonfinancial corporations increased $12.5 billion, and rest-of-the-world profits increased $18.6 billion.
Revisions to Wages and Salaries in the Second Quarter
In addition to presenting revised estimates for the third quarter, today's release presents revised
estimates of second-quarter wages and salaries, personal taxes, and contributions for government social
insurance. Wages and salaries are now estimated to have increased $63.1 billion in the second quarter
of 2017, a downward revision of $26.5 billion. These estimates reflect revised wage and salary
tabulations for the second quarter from the BLS Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages. Real GDI
is now estimated to have increased 2.3 percent in the second quarter, a downward revision of 0.6
percentage point.
Erich H. Strassner
Associate Director, National Economic Accounts
Bureau of Economic Analysis
(301) 278-9612
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@FedFRASER