US Q2 GDP Growth Downwardly Revised from +2.4% to +1.6%

[tritsofme]

A little better than expected.

National Income and Product Accounts
Gross Domestic Product, 2nd quarter 2010 (second estimate);
Corporate Profits, 2nd quarter 2010 (preliminary estimate)

Real gross domestic product -- the output of goods and services produced by labor and property
located in the United States -- increased at an annual rate of 1.6 percent in the second quarter of 2010,
(that is, from the first quarter to the second quarter), according to the "second" estimate released by the
Bureau of Economic Analysis. In the first quarter, real GDP increased 3.7 percent.

The GDP estimates released today are based on more complete source data than were available for
the "advance" estimate issued last month. In the advance estimate, the increase in real GDP was 2.4
percent (see "Revisions" on page 3).

The increase in real GDP in the second quarter primarily reflected positive contributions from
nonresidential fixed investment, personal consumption expenditures, exports, federal government
spending, private inventory investment, and residential fixed investment. Imports, which are a
subtraction in the calculation of GDP, increased.

The deceleration in real GDP in the second quarter primarily reflected a sharp acceleration in
imports and a sharp deceleration in private inventory investment that were partly offset by an upturn in
residential fixed investment, an acceleration in nonresidential fixed investment, an upturn in state and
local government spending, and an acceleration in federal government spending.

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FOOTNOTE.--Quarterly estimates are expressed at seasonally adjusted annual rates, unless otherwise
specified. Quarter-to-quarter dollar changes are differences between these published estimates. Percent
changes are calculated from unrounded data and are annualized. “Real” estimates are in chained (2005)
dollars. Price indexes are chain-type measures.

This news release is available on BEA’s Web site along with the Technical Note and Highlights
related to this release.
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Final sales of computers added 0.03 percentage point to the second-quarter change in real GDP
after adding 0.10 percentage point to the first-quarter change. Motor vehicle output subtracted 0.08
percentage point from the second-quarter change in real GDP after adding 0.74 percentage point to the
first-quarter change.

The price index for gross domestic purchases, which measures prices paid by U.S. residents,
increased 0.1 percent in the second quarter, the same increase as in the advance estimate; this index
increased 2.1 percent in the first quarter. Excluding food and energy prices, the price index for gross
domestic purchases increased 0.8 percent in the second quarter, compared with an increase of 1.6
percent in the first.

Real personal consumption expenditures increased 2.0 percent in the second quarter, compared
with an increase of 1.9 percent in the first. Real nonresidential fixed investment increased 17.6 percent,
compared with an increase of 7.8 percent. Nonresidential structures increased 0.4 percent, in contrast to
a decrease of 17.8 percent. Equipment and software increased 24.9 percent, compared with an increase
of 20.4 percent. Real residential fixed investment increased 27.2 percent, in contrast to a decrease of
12.3 percent.

Real exports of goods and services increased 9.1 percent in the second quarter, compared with an
increase of 11.4 percent in the first. Real imports of goods and services increased 32.4 percent,
compared with an increase of 11.2 percent.

Real federal government consumption expenditures and gross investment increased 9.1 percent in
the second quarter, compared with an increase of 1.8 percent in the first. National defense increased 7.3
percent, compared with an increase of 0.4 percent. Nondefense increased 12.9 percent, compared with
an increase of 5.0 percent. Real state and local government consumption expenditures and gross
investment increased 1.2 percent, in contrast to a decrease of 3.8 percent.

The change in real private inventories added 0.63 percentage point to the second-quarter change in
real GDP, after adding 2.64 percentage points to the first-quarter change. Private businesses increased
inventories $63.2 billion in the second quarter, following an increase of $44.1 billion in the first quarter
and a decrease of $36.7 billion in the fourth.

Real final sales of domestic product -- GDP less change in private inventories -- increased 1.0
percent in the second quarter, compared with an increase of 1.1 percent in the first.


Gross domestic purchases

Real gross domestic purchases -- purchases by U.S. residents of goods and services wherever
produced -- increased 4.9 percent in the second quarter, compared with an increase of 3.9 percent in the
first.


Gross national product

Real gross national product -- the goods and services produced by the labor and property supplied
by U.S. residents -- increased 1.7 percent in the second quarter, compared with an increase of 4.4
percent in the first. GNP includes, and GDP excludes, net receipts of income from the rest of the world,
which increased $2.1 billion in the second quarter after increasing $22.9 billion in the first; in the second
quarter, receipts increased $13.7 billion, and payments increased $11.6 billion.


Current-dollar GDP

Current-dollar GDP -- the market value of the nation's output of goods and services -- increased
3.6 percent, or $128.6 billion, in the second quarter to a level of $14,575.0 billion. In the first quarter,
current-dollar GDP increased 4.8 percent, or $169.1 billion.


Revisions

The “second” estimate of the second-quarter increase in real GDP is 0.8 percentage point, or $25.0
billion, lower than the advance estimate issued last month, primarily reflecting an upward revision to
imports and downward revisions to private inventory investment and to exports that were partly offset
by an upward revision to personal consumption expenditures.

Advance Second
(Percent change from preceding quarter)

Real GDP..................................... 2.4 1.6
Current-dollar GDP........................... 4.3 3.6
Gross domestic purchases price index......... 0.1 0.1


Corporate Profits

Profits from current production (corporate profits with inventory valuation and capital
consumption adjustments) increased $72.7 billion in the second quarter, compared with an increase of
$148.4 billion in the first quarter. Current-production cash flow (net cash flow with inventory valuation
adjustment) -- the internal funds available to corporations for investment -- increased $53.7 billion in the
second quarter, compared with an increase of $33.3 billion in the first.

Taxes on corporate income increased $39.0 billion in the second quarter, compared with an
increase of $84.1 billion in the first. Profits after tax with inventory valuation and capital consumption
adjustments increased $33.8 billion in the second quarter, compared with an increase of $64.1 billion in
the first. Dividends increased $4.5 billion compared with an increase of $11.8 billion; current-
production undistributed profits increased $29.2 billion, compared with an increase of $52.4 billion.

Domestic profits of financial corporations decreased $0.4 billion in the second quarter, in contrast
to an increase of $5.2 billion in the first. Domestic profits of nonfinancial corporations increased $67.9
billion in the second quarter, compared with an increase of $117.2 billion in the first. In the second
quarter, real gross value added of nonfinancial corporations increased, and profits per unit of real value
added increased. The increase in unit profits reflected an increase in unit prices and decreases in both
the unit labor and nonlabor costs corporations incurred.

The rest-of-the-world component of profits increased $5.3 billion in the second quarter, compared
with an increase of $25.9 billion in the first. This measure is calculated as (1) receipts by U.S. residents
of earnings from their foreign affiliates plus dividends received by U.S. residents from unaffiliated
foreign corporations minus (2) payments by U.S. affiliates of earnings to their foreign parents plus
dividends paid by U.S. corporations to unaffiliated foreign residents. The second-quarter increase was
accounted for by a larger increase in receipts than in payments.

Profits before tax increased $41.0 billion in the second quarter, compared with an increase of
$224.5 billion in the first. The before-tax measure of profits does not reflect, as does profits from
current production, the capital consumption and inventory valuation adjustments. These adjustments
convert depreciation of fixed assets and inventory withdrawals reported on a tax-return, historical-cost
basis to the current-cost measures used in the national income and product accounts. The capital
consumption adjustment decreased $1.2 billion in the second quarter (from -$169.9 billion to -$171.1
billion), compared with a decrease of $106.9 billion in the first. The inventory valuation adjustment
increased $32.9 billion (from -$36.4 billion to -$3.5 billion), compared with an increase of $30.8 billion.


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BEA's national, international, regional, and industry estimates; the Survey of Current Business;
and BEA news releases are available without charge on BEA's Web site at www.bea.gov. By visiting
the site, you can also subscribe to receive free e-mail summaries of BEA releases and announcements.


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Next release -- September 30, 2010, at 8:30 A.M. EDT for:
Gross Domestic Product: Second Quarter 2010 (Third Estimate)
Corporate Profits: Second Quarter 2010 (Revised Estimate)


http://www.bea.gov/newsreleases/national/gdp/gdpnewsrelease.htm