Economic Indicator: GDP – Who’s Making the Money?
The third estimate of GDP for the first quarter of 2011 came out this morning, and of note is what it says about corporate profits by industry. Compared to the fourth quarter of 2010, domestic corporate profits increased in the first quarter of this year by $84.9 billion, up 6.4% from the previous quarter. This increase was led by growth among manufacturing ($39.1 billion), wholesale trade ($28.8 billion) and “other” non-financial firms ($44.4 billion). The largest loser was the financial sector which took a $57.4 billion hit.