Real gross domestic product (GDP) increased at an anemic annual rate of 1.2% in the first quarter of 2017, according to the “second” estimate released by the Bureau of Economic Analysis. In the fourth quarter, real GDP increased 2.1%.
Profits from current production (corporate profits with inventory valuation adjustment and capital consumption adjustment) decreased $40.3 billion in the first quarter, in contrast to an increase of $11.2 billion in the fourth quarter.