Technical Note
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Technical Note
Gross Domestic Product
Second Quarter of 2009 (Second Estimate)
August 27, 2009
This technical note provides background information about the source data and estimating methods
used to produce the estimates presented in the GDP news release. The complete set of estimates
for the second quarter is available on BEA's Web site at www.bea.gov; a brief summary of
"highlights" is also posted on the Web site. In a few weeks, the estimates will be published
in BEA's monthly journal, the Survey of Current Business, along with a more detailed analysis
of the estimates ("GDP and the Economy").
Sources of Revision to Real GDP
Real GDP decreased 1.0 percent (annual rate) in the second quarter (that is, from the first
quarter to the second), the same decrease as in the advance estimate that was released last
month. Upward revisions to exports, residential investment, consumer spending, and government
spending were offset by downward revisions to inventory investment and to nonresidential investment:
* The upward revision to exports reflected newly available Census goods data for June and
revised data for May.
* The revisions to residential investment, to government spending, and to nonresidential
investment reflected newly available Census construction spending (value put in place) data
for June, revised data for April and May, and a revised one-unit deflator from the Census
Bureau.
* The upward revision to consumer spending primarily reflected newly available motor vehicle
registrations data for June.
* The downward revision to inventory investment reflected newly available Census inventory data
for June and revised data for May.
The price index for gross domestic purchases increased 0.5 percent in the second quarter, a downward
revision of 0.2 percentage point from the advance estimate. The revision reflected a downward
revision to the one-unit deflator from the Census Bureau.
Corporate Profits
Profits from current production increased $67.6 billion, or 5.7 percent (quarterly rate), in the
second quarter, after increasing $59.1 billion, or 5.3 percent, in the first.
Revisions to Wages and Salaries and Disposable Personal Income
In addition to presenting revised estimates for the second quarter, today's release also presents
revised estimates of first-quarter wages and salaries, personal taxes, and contributions for
government social insurance. Wage and salary disbursements are now estimated to have decreased
$235.7 billion in the first quarter, a downward revision of $31.1 billion. These estimates
reflect newly available wage and salary tabulations for the first quarter from the Bureau of Labor
Statistics quarterly census of employment and wages. (Last month’s advance estimate reflected BLS
wage and salary tabulations for 13 states.) These data are more comprehensive than the monthly
employment and earnings data that were used for the earlier estimates--they include the pay of
supervisors and irregular pay, such as bonuses and gains from the exercise of stock options.
Real disposable personal income is now estimated to have increased 0.2 percent in the first
quarter and to have increased 3.8 percent in the second. (By comparison, the estimates that
were available last month showed an increase of 1.1 percent in the first quarter and an increase
of 3.2 percent in the second.)
Brent R. Moulton
Associate Director for National Economic Accounts
Bureau of Economic Analysis
(202) 606-9606
