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EMBARGOED UNTIL RELEASE AT 8:30 A.M. EST, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 2019

BEA 19-03

Gross Domestic Product by Industry: Third Quarter 2018

Wholesale trade; information; and finance and insurance were the leading contributors to the increase in U.S. economic growth in the third quarter of 2018. According to gross domestic product (GDP) by industry statistics released by the Bureau of Economic Analysis, 19 of 22 industry groups contributed to the overall 3.4 percent increase in real GDP in the third quarter.

Real GDP and Real Value Added by Sector, Third Quarter 2018

For the wholesale trade industry group, real value added—a measure of an industry's contribution to GDP—increased 7.4 percent in the third quarter, after increasing 2.6 percent in the second quarter.
Information services increased 7.6 percent, after increasing 13.4 percent. The third quarter growth reflected increases to publishing industries; data processing, internet publishing, and other information services; and broadcasting and telecommunications.
Finance and insurance increased 5.5 percent, after decreasing 2.0 percent. The third quarter growth primarily reflected an increase in Federal Reserve banks, credit intermediation, and related activities.

Real Value Added by Industry, Third Quarter 2018

Other highlights

Real GDP growth slowed to 3.4 percent in the third quarter, from 4.2 percent in the second quarter. Real estate and rental and leasing was the leading contributor to the deceleration in real GDP growth in the third quarter. Real value added for the industry group increased 1.4 percent, after increasing 5.3 percent in the second quarter.
Professional, scientific, and technical services increased 4.2 percent, after increasing 9.3 percent, and was the second leading contributor to the slowdown. The deceleration was primarily attributed to a slowdown in miscellaneous professional, scientific, and technical services, which includes industries like advertising, research and development, and engineering services.
Utilities decreased 4.8 percent, after increasing 19.1 percent. This industry includes electric power generation, transmission, and distribution; natural gas distribution; and water, sewage, and other systems.

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 3.9 percent in the third quarter. This reflected an increase of 6.4 percent for the private goods-producing sector, 3.4 percent for the private services-producing sector, and 1.7 percent for the government sector. Overall, 20 of 22 industry groups contributed to the increase in real gross output.

Real gross output for real estate and rental and leasing increased 1.5 percent in the third quarter, after increasing 2.9 percent in the second quarter. The third quarter increase was primarily attributed to housing.
Professional, scientific, and technical services increased 2.4 percent, after increasing 7.9 percent. The third quarter increase was primarily attributed to computer systems design and related services.
Wholesale trade increased 4.0 percent, after increasing 7.1 percent.

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Next release – April 19, 2019 at 8:30 A.M. EDT for:
Gross Domestic Product by Industry: Fourth Quarter 2018 and Annual 2018

Full Release & Tables (PDF)

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Technical

Thomas Howells

(301) 278-9586

IndustryEconomicAccounts@bea.gov

Technical

Edward Morgan

(301) 278-9541

News 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 2012). 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 (2012) 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