Full text of U.S. Financial Data : August 30, 2001

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August 30, 2001

USFinancialData
THE WEEK’S HIGHLIGHTS:
■ The annualized growth of real GDP during the second quarter was
revised down 0.5 percentage points to 0.2 percent. Real GDP
increased at a 0.7 percent annual rate during the first half of 2001,
the slowest two-quarter growth rate in 10 years.
■ During the second quarter, corporate profits adjusted for inventory
valuation changes and capital consumption charges declined $28.5
billion, or 3.6 percent. Profits, which are not adjusted for inflation,
fell 6.8 percent during the first quarter and 5.3 percent during the
fourth quarter of 2000. As a percentage of GDP, corporate profits fell
to 7.5 percent during the second quarter, their smallest share since
the first quarter of 1994.
■ After rising at a 2.5 percent annual rate during the second quarter,
real personal consumption expenditures (PCE) in July rose 0.2
percent, or at a 2 percent annual rate. The PCE chain-type price
index, which is an alternative to the consumer price index, fell at a
0.8 percent rate in July. Year-to-date, consumer prices measured by
the PCE have risen at a 2 percent rate; measured by the CPI, prices
have risen at a 2.8 percent rate.
■ The Conference Board’s index of consumer confidence fell 1.7 percent
in August. Consumer confidence has declined 8 of the last 12 months.
■ Sales of previously sold homes were at an annual rate of 5,170,000
units, down 3 percent from June’s rate but up 7.3 percent from a
year earlier.
All data are seasonally adjusted unless otherwise indicated.
U.S. Financial Data is published weekly by the Research Division of the Federal Reserve Bank of
St. Louis. For more information on data, please call (314) 444-8590. To be added to the mailing
list, please call (314) 444-8809.
Information in this publication is also included in the Federal Reserve Economic Data (FRED) data base
on the internet at www.stls.frb.org/fred.