GDP Up 2.7% in Q3, Corporate Profits Grow

Real GDP growth for the third quarter was revised up significantly, reaching a 2.7 percent annualized growth, the ""Bureau of Economic Analysis"":http://www.bea.gov/newsreleases/national/gdp/2012/pdf/gdp3q12_2nd.pdf (BEA) reported Thursday. Economists had forecast a 2.8 percent growth rate from the first estimate of 2.0 percent reported last month.

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In the same report, BEA said corporate profits in the third quarter rebounded to $1.752 trillion (annualized) from $1.665 trillion in the second quarter. Profits in the third quarter grew an annualized 22.7 percent after dropping 1.4 percent in the second quarter. Corporate profits on a year-on-year basis increased 18.6 percent, compared to 14.5 percent in the second quarter.

The improvement in profits bodes well for increased hiring, and indeed, the nation added 171,000 thousand jobs in October, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The report on November jobs will be issued December 7.

The report on GDP was the second of three monthly reports and billed as the ""second estimate."" The report on profits was the first of two and labeled ""preliminary."" Final reports on both will be released December 20.

The economy grew at a rate of 1.3 percent in the second quarter and 2.0 percent in the first.

The make-up of the GDP growth shifted in this latest report away from demand componentsâ€"sales of goodsâ€"to inventory investment.

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The revisions were largely due to higher estimates for inventories, nonresidential investments, and exports. Consumer spending was revised down, as was investment in business equipment. Estimates for residential investment and government purchases were virtually unchanged.

Inflation for the GDP price index remained strong in the third quarter, revised down slightly to 2.7 percent from the initial 2.8 percent reading and up from 1.6 percent in the second quarter. Analysts forecast 2.8 percent. Excluding food and energy, inflation was 1.3 percent in the third quarter, down from the initial estimate of 1.5 percent and from 1.4 percent in the second quarter.

The 2.7 percent growth rate exceeded the average of 2.5 percent since 1991, but is below the longer-term average and the 3.0 percent level need to add enough jobs to make a significant dent in the nation's unemployment rate.

In dollar terms, GDP grew $89.6 billion in the third quarter, higher than the $67.7 billion advance estimate. According to the revised report, consumer spending contributed $33.4 billion to the overall growth, down from $47.8 billion in the advance report (and from $35.7 billion in the second quarter).

Government spending at all levels added another $21.3 billion--compared with the advance estimate of $22.4 billion--in the third quarter, reversing a subtraction of $4.3 billion in the second quarter.

Residential fixed investment accounted for $12.2 billion in the third quarter, according to the revised report, virtually unchanged from the $12.3 billion in the advance report of the third-quarter GDP increase and up from the $7.2 contribution in the second quarter.

Overall, residential fixed investment was 2.72 percent of GDP in the third quarter, up from 2.65 percent in the second.

The growth in profits was led by financial corporations, with aggregate profits of $71.3 billion in the third quarter compared with a loss of 11.9 billion in the second.