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EMBARGOED UNTIL RELEASE AT 8:30 A.M. EST, Friday, January 19, 2018

BEA 18-02

Gross Domestic Product by Industry, 3rd quarter 2017

Finance and Insurance Led Growth in the Third Quarter

Finance and insurance; durable goods manufacturing; and information services were the leading contributors to the increase in U.S. economic growth in the third quarter of 2017. According to gross domestic product (GDP) by industry statistics released by the Bureau of Economic Analysis, 18 of 22 industry groups contributed to the overall 3.2 percent increase in real GDP in the third quarter.

Chart: Real GDP and Value Added by Sector

For the finance and insurance industry group, real value added—a measure of an industry's contribution to GDP—increased 14.7 percent in the third quarter, after decreasing 6.6 percent in the second quarter. This was the largest increase since the second quarter of 2009 and primarily reflected increases in securities, commodity contracts, and investments.
Durable goods manufacturing increased 7.5 percent, after increasing 2.9 percent. The third quarter growth primarily reflected increases in computer and electronic products manufacturing.
Information services increased 9.0 percent, after increasing 7.0 percent. The third quarter growth primarily reflected an increase in broadcasting and telecommunications. This was the largest increase since the fourth quarter of 2015.

Other highlights

Nondurable goods manufacturing decreased 4.1 percent in the third quarter, after increasing 3.5 percent in the second. The decrease was primarily attributed to a decrease in petroleum and coal products manufacturing.
Retail trade increased 6.3 percent, after increasing 5.6 percent. This primarily reflected increases in other retail, which includes building material and garden equipment and supplies dealers, nonstore retailers, and gasoline stations.
Professional, scientific, and technical services increased 2.7 percent, after increasing 5.1 percent. The third quarter increase was primarily attributed to an increase in computer systems design and related services.

Gross output by industry

Economy-wide, real gross output—principally a measure of an industry's sales or receipts, which includes sales to final users in the economy (GDP) and sales to other industries (intermediate inputs)—increased 2.1 percent in the third quarter. This reflected an increase of 2.3 percent in real gross output for the private services-producing sector, an increase of 1.8 percent for the private goods-producing sector, and an increase of 1.5 percent for the government sector. Overall, 15 of 22 industry groups contributed to the increase in real gross output.

Real gross output for durable goods manufacturing increased 6.8 percent, after increasing 0.8 percent in the second quarter. This was the largest increase since the third quarter of 2014, and primarily reflected increases in other transportation equipment manufacturing and computer and electronic products manufacturing.
Retail trade increased 6.2 percent, after increasing 2.0 percent.
Information services increased 8.9 percent, after increasing 4.0 percent. The increase was primarily attributed to information and data processing services, which has increased for six consecutive quarters.

Next release — April 19, 2018 at 8:30 A.M. EDT for: Gross Domestic Product by Industry: Fourth Quarter and Annual 2017

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Technical

Thomas Howells

(301) 278-9586

IndustryEconomicAccounts@bea.gov

Technical

Edward Morgan

(301) 278-9541

Media

Jeannine Aversa

(301) 278-9003

Jeannine.Aversa@bea.gov

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Industry Concepts and Methods: Concepts and Methods of the U.S. Input-Output Accounts

Definitions

Gross domestic product (GDP) or value added is 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. GDP is also equal to the sum of personal consumption expenditures, gross private domestic investment, net exports of goods and services, and government consumption expenditures and gross investment.

Gross output (GO) is the value of the goods and services produced by the nation's economy. It is principally measured using industry sales or receipts, including sales to final users (GDP) and sales to other industries (intermediate inputs).

Current-dollar estimates are valued in the prices of the period when the transactions occurred—that is, at "market value." Also referred to as "nominal estimates" or as "current-price estimates."

Real values are inflation-adjusted estimates—that is, estimates that exclude the effects of price changes.

Statistical conventions

Annual rates. Quarterly values are expressed at seasonally-adjusted annual rates (SAAR), unless otherwise specified. Dollar changes are calculated as the difference between these SAAR values. For detail, see the FAQ "Why does BEA publish estimates at annual rates?"

Quantities and prices. Quantities, or "real" measures, and prices are expressed as index numbers with a specified reference year equal to 100 (currently 2009). Quantity and price indexes are calculated using a Fisher-chained weighted formula that incorporates weights from two adjacent periods (quarters for quarterly data and annuals for annual data). "Real" dollar series are calculated by multiplying the published quantity index by the current-dollar value in the reference year (2009) and then dividing by 100. Percent changes calculated from chained-dollar levels and quantity indexes are conceptually the same; any differences are due to rounding.

Chained-dollar values are not additive because the relative weights for a given period differ from those of the reference year. In tables that display chained-dollar values, the value of the "Not allocated by industry" line reflects the difference between the first line and the sum of the most detailed lines. For the real value added by industry table, this value also reflects differences in source data used to estimate GDP by industry and the expenditures measure of real GDP.

List of News Release Tables

Table 1. Real Value Added by Industry Group: Percent Change from Preceding Period
Table 2. Contributions to Percent Change in Real GDP by Industry Group
Table 3. Chain-Type Price Indexes for Value Added by Industry Group: Percent Change from Preceding Period
Table 4. Contributions to Percent Change in the GDP Price Index by Industry Group
Table 5. Value Added by Industry Group
Table 5a. Value Added by Industry Group as a Percentage of GDP
Table 6. Real Gross Output by Industry Group: Percent Change from Preceding Period
Table 7. Chain-Type Price Indexes for Gross Output by Industry Group: Percent Change from Preceding Period
Table 8. Gross Output by Industry Group