News Release
These data have been superseded. Please see our latest releases for current estimates and contact information.
Gross Domestic Product, 3rd quarter 2015 (advance estimate)
Real gross domestic product -- the value of the goods and services produced by the nation’s
economy less the value of the goods and services used up in production, adjusted for price
changes -- increased at an annual rate of 1.5 percent in the third quarter of 2015, according to the
"advance" estimate released by the Bureau of Economic Analysis. In the second quarter, real GDP
increased 3.9 percent.
The Bureau emphasized that the third-quarter advance estimate released today is based on source
data that are incomplete or subject to further revision by the source agency (see the box on page 2 and
"Comparisons of Revisions to GDP" on page 4). The "second" estimate for the third quarter, based on
more complete data, will be released on November 24, 2015.
The increase in real GDP in the third quarter primarily reflected positive contributions from
personal consumption expenditures (PCE), state and local government spending, nonresidential fixed
investment, exports, and residential fixed investment that were partly offset by negative contributions
from private inventory investment. Imports, which are a subtraction in the calculation of GDP,
increased.
Real GDP increased 1.5 percent in the third quarter, after increasing 3.9 percent in the second.
The deceleration in real GDP in the third quarter primarily reflected a downturn in private inventory
investment and decelerations in exports, in nonresidential fixed investment, in PCE, in state and local
government spending, and in residential fixed investment that were partly offset by a deceleration in
imports.
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FOOTNOTE. Quarterly estimates are expressed at seasonally adjusted annual rates, unless otherwise
specified. Percent changes are calculated from unrounded data and are annualized. "Real" estimates are
in chained (2009) dollars. Price indexes are chain-type measures.
This news release is available on BEA's Web site.
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Real gross domestic purchases -- purchases by U.S. residents of goods and services wherever
produced -- increased 1.5 percent in the third quarter, compared with an increase of 3.6 percent in the
second.
Current-dollar GDP -- the market value of the goods and services produced by the nation’s
economy less the value of the goods and services used up in production -- increased 2.7 percent, or
$121.1 billion, in the third quarter to a level of $18,034.8 billion. In the second quarter, current-dollar
GDP increased 6.1 percent, or $264.4 billion.
Disposition of personal income
Current-dollar personal income increased $171.6 billion in the third quarter, compared with an
increase of $139.5 billion in the second. The acceleration in personal income primarily reflected an
acceleration in wages and salaries and an upturn in farm proprietors’ income that were partly offset by a
deceleration in personal interest income.
Personal current taxes increased $15.8 billion in the third quarter, compared with an increase of
$27.3 billion in the second.
Disposable personal income increased $155.9 billion, or 4.8 percent, in the third quarter,
compared with an increase of $112.2 billion, or 3.4 percent, in the second. Real disposable personal
income increased 3.5 percent, compared with an increase of 1.2 percent.
Personal outlays increased $136.6 billion in the third quarter, compared with an increase of
$182.3 billion in the second.
Personal saving -- disposable personal income less personal outlays -- was $636.7 billion in the
third quarter, compared with $617.5 billion in the second.
The personal saving rate -- personal saving as a percentage of disposable personal income --
was 4.7 percent in the third quarter, compared with an increase of 4.6 percent in the second. For a
comparison of personal saving in BEA's national income and product accounts with personal saving in the
Federal Reserve Board's financial accounts of the United States and data on changes in net worth, go to
www.bea.gov/national/nipaweb/Nipa-Frb.asp.
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BOX. Information on the assumptions used for unavailable source data is provided in a technical note
that is posted with the news release on BEA's Web site. Within a few days after the release, a detailed
"Key Source Data and Assumptions" file is posted on the Web site. In the middle of each month, an
analysis of the current quarterly estimate of GDP and related series is made available on the Web site;
click on Survey of Current Business, "GDP and the Economy." For information on revisions, see
"Revisions to GDP, GDI, and Their Major Components."
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BEA's national, international, regional, and industry estimates; the Survey of Current Business;
and BEA news releases are available without charge on BEA's Web site at www.bea.gov. By visiting
the site, you can also subscribe to receive free e-mail summaries of BEA releases and announcements.
* * *
Next release -- November 24, 2015 at 8:30 A.M. EST for:
Gross Domestic Product: Third Quarter 2015 (Second Estimate)
Corporate Profits: Third Quarter 2015 (Preliminary Estimate)
* * *
Release dates in 2016
Gross Domestic Product
2015: IV and 2015 annual 2016: I 2016: II 2016: III
Advance.... January 29 April 28 July 29 October 28
Second..... February 26 May 27 August 26 November 29
Third...... March 25 June 28 September 29 December 22
Corporate Profits
Preliminary... ... May 27 August 26 November 29
Revised....... March 25 June 28 September 29 December 22
Comparisons of Revisions to GDP
Current quarterly estimates of GDP are released on the following schedule: "Advance" estimates, based on source
data that are incomplete or subject to further revision by the source agency, are released near the end of the first
month following the end of the quarter; as more detailed and more comprehensive data become available,
"second" and "third" estimates are released near the end of the second and third months, respectively. "Latest"
quarterly estimates reflect the results of both annual and comprehensive revisions, which are typically released in late July.
Annual revisions generally cover at least the 3 most recent calendar years (and the associated quarters) and
incorporate newly available major annual source data. Comprehensive (or benchmark) revisions are carried out at
about 5-year intervals and incorporate major periodic source data, as well as improvements in concepts and
methods that update the accounts to portray more accurately the evolving U.S. economy.
The table below presents the average revisions to the quarterly percent changes in real and current-dollar
GDP for the different estimate vintages. From the advance estimate to the second estimate (1 month later), the
average revision to real GDP growth without regard to sign is 0.5 percentage point, while from the advance
estimate to the third estimate (2 months later), it is 0.6 percentage point. From the advance estimate to the latest
estimate, the average revision without regard to sign is 1.2 percentage points. Larger average revisions for the
latest estimates reflect the fact that comprehensive revisions include major improvements to the accounts, such as
the incorporation of BEA's latest benchmark input-output accounts. The current quarterly estimates correctly indicate the
direction of change in real GDP 96 percent of the time, correctly indicate whether GDP is accelerating or
decelerating about 75 percent of the time, and correctly indicate whether real GDP growth is above, near, or
below trend growth about 83 percent of the time.
Revisions Between Quarterly Percent Changes of GDP: Vintage Comparisons
[Annual rates]
Vintages Average Average without Standard deviation of
compared regard to sign revisions without
regard to sign
________________________________________________________Real GDP_____________________________________________________
Advance to second.................... 0.1 0.5 0.4
Advance to third..................... 0.1 0.6 0.5
Second to third...................... 0.0 0.2 0.3
Advance to latest.................... -0.1 1.2 1.0
____________________________________________________Current-dollar GDP_______________________________________________
Advance to second.................... 0.1 0.5 0.4
Advance to third..................... 0.2 0.7 0.5
Second to third...................... 0.1 0.3 0.3
Advance to latest.................... 0.1 1.3 1.0
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
NOTE. These comparisons are based on the period from 1993 through 2014.