Bureau of Economic Analysis

Corporate Profits: BEA’s Suite of Measures Are Essential Indicators

A blog from BEA Director Vipin Arora

Every year, usually in January, I feel absolutely committed to getting a better handle on my finances. All I want to understand—not just at the end of the year, but throughout the year—is exactly what is coming in, what is going out, and what I have left over. Yet I can never seem to calculate these “personal profits,” nor how far I am from the mythical financial goals I’m supposed to have. Maybe my struggles are why I find our estimates of corporate profits at BEA so remarkable.

Gross Domestic Product by State and Personal Income by State, 1st Quarter 2024

Real gross domestic product increased in 39 states and the District of Columbia in the first quarter of 2024, with the percent change ranging from 5.0 percent at an annual rate in Idaho to –4.2 percent in South Dakota. 

Personal Income and Outlays, May 2024

Personal income increased $114.1 billion (0.5 percent at a monthly rate) in May. Disposable personal income (DPI)—personal income less personal current taxes—increased $94.0 billion (0.5 percent). Personal outlays—the sum of personal consumption expenditures (PCE), personal interest payments, and personal current transfer payments—increased $56.4 billion (0.3 percent) and consumer spending increased $47.8 billion (0.2 percent). Personal saving was $806.1 billion and the personal saving rate—personal saving as a percentage of disposable personal income—was 3.9 percent in May. 

Gross Domestic Product (Third Estimate), Corporate Profits, and GDP by Industry, First Quarter 2024

Real gross domestic product increased at an annual rate of 1.4 percent in the first quarter of 2024, according to the “third” estimate. In the fourth quarter of 2023, real GDP increased 3.4 percent. The increase in the first quarter primarily reflected increases in consumer spending, housing investment, business investment, and state and local government that were partly offset by a decrease in inventory investment. Imports, which are a subtraction in the calculation of GDP, increased. 

U.S. International Investment Position, 1st Quarter 2024

The U.S. net international investment position, the difference between U.S. residents’ foreign financial assets and liabilities, was –$21.28 trillion at the end of the first quarter of 2024, according to statistics released today by the Bureau of Economic Analysis. Assets totaled $35.78 trillion, and liabilities were $57.06 trillion. At the end of the fourth quarter of 2023, the net investment position was –$19.85 trillion (revised).