Gross Domestic Product, Second Quarter 2023 (Second Estimate) and Corporate Profits (Preliminary)

Historical release narrative reproduced from the official public-domain U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis source. Statistical tables, charts, standard technical appendices and administrative material are omitted; formatting is adapted for reading. Figures retain the release's original vintage and may have been revised. Consult the linked source for the complete release and current data.

Real gross domestic product (GDP) increased at an annual rate of 2.1 percent in the second quarter of 2023 (table 1), according to the "second" estimate released by the Bureau of Economic Analysis. In the first quarter, real GDP increased 2.0 percent.

The GDP estimate released today is 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 (refer to "Updates to GDP"). The updated estimates primarily reflected downward revisions to private inventory investment and nonresidential fixed investment that were partly offset by an upward revision to state and local government spending.

The increase in real GDP reflected increases in consumer spending, nonresidential fixed investment, state and local government spending, and federal government spending that were partly offset by decreases in exports, residential fixed investment, and private inventory investment. Imports, which are a subtraction in the calculation of GDP, decreased (table 2).

Compared to the first quarter, the acceleration in real GDP in the second quarter primarily reflected a smaller decrease in private inventory investment and an acceleration in nonresidential fixed investment. These movements were partly offset by a downturn in exports, and decelerations in consumer spending and federal government spending. Imports turned down.

Current‑dollar GDP increased 4.1 percent at an annual rate, or $268.6 billion, in the second quarter to a level of $26.80 trillion, a downward revision of $36.3 billion from the previous estimate (tables 1 and 3). More information on the source data that underlie the estimates is available in the "Key Source Data and Assumptions" file on BEA's website.

The price index for gross domestic purchases increased 1.7 percent in the second quarter, a downward revision of 0.2 percentage point from the previous estimate. The PCE price index increased 2.5 percent, a downward revision of 0.1 percentage point. Excluding food and energy prices, the PCE price index increased 3.7 percent, a downward revision of 0.1 percentage point.

Personal Income

Current-dollar personal income increased $232.1 billion in the second quarter, a downward revision of $3.9 billion from the previous estimate. The increase primarily reflected increases in compensation (led by private wages and salaries), personal income receipts on assets (both personal interest income and personal dividend income), personal current transfer receipts (led by government social benefits), and rental income of persons (table 8).

Disposable personal income increased $284.5 billion, or 5.9 percent, in the second quarter, an upward revision of $36.3 billion from the previous estimate. Real disposable personal income increased 3.3 percent, an upward revision of 0.8 percentage point.

Personal saving was $892.3 billion in the second quarter, an upward revision of $22.7 billion from the previous estimate. The personal saving rate—personal saving as a percentage of disposable personal income—was 4.5 percent in the second quarter, an upward revision of 0.1 percentage point.

Gross Domestic Income and Corporate Profits

Real gross domestic income (GDI) increased 0.5 percent in the second quarter, in contrast to a decrease of 1.8 percent in the first quarter. The average of real GDP and real GDI, a supplemental measure of U.S. economic activity that equally weights GDP and GDI, increased 1.3 percent in the second quarter, compared with an increase of 0.1 percent in the first quarter (table 1).

Profits from current production (corporate profits with inventory valuation and capital consumption adjustments) decreased $10.6 billion in the second quarter, compared with a decrease of $121.5 billion in the first quarter (table 10).

Profits of domestic financial corporations decreased $47.8 billion in the second quarter, compared with a decrease of $9.4 billion in the first quarter. Profits of domestic nonfinancial corporations increased $17.1 billion in the second quarter, in contrast to a decrease of $102.9 billion in the first quarter. Rest-of-the-world profits increased $20.2 billion in the second quarter, in contrast to a decrease of $9.2 billion in the first quarter. In the second quarter, receipts increased $18.2 billion and payments decreased $2.0 billion.

Updates to GDP

With the second estimate, downward revisions to private inventory investment and nonresidential fixed investment were partly offset by upward revisions to state and local government spending, exports, consumer spending, federal government spending, and residential investment. Imports were revised up. For more information, refer to the Technical Note. For information on updates to GDP, refer to the "Additional Information" section that follows.

First Quarter Wages and Salaries

BEA's standard practice for first-quarter estimates of wages and salaries is to incorporate data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW) program as part of the annual update of the National Economic Acccounts. New QCEW data for the first quarter of 2023 will be incorporated into next month's release along with the 2023 Comprehensive Update of the National Economic Accounts (refer to box below for details).

BEA will release initial results from the 2023 comprehensive update of the National Economic Accounts, which include the National Income and Product Accounts as well as the Industry Economic Accounts, on September 28, 2023. The update will present revised statistics for GDP, GDP by industry, and gross domestic income. For details, refer to Information on Updates to the National Economic Accounts.

The initial results of the comprehensive update of the Regional Economic Accounts will be released on September 29.

GDP by industry and GDP by state news releases for the second quarter of 2023 will be released this fall. BEA will send out an advisory with the exact days and times when they become available.

Personal income by state for the second quarter will be released as scheduled on September 29.