A positive profit total did not mean the domestic components moved together. BEA’s March 30, 2017 account put the fourth-quarter increase in profits from current production at $11.2 billion. Domestic financial corporations gained $26.5 billion; domestic nonfinancial corporations fell $60.4 billion. These changes compare seasonally adjusted annual-rate levels, not cash earned within three months. [bea-third]

The rest-of-world component supplied a $45.1 billion increase on the same basis. It is receipts minus payments: receipts rose $9.1 billion while payments fell $36.0 billion. Lower payments therefore helped lift this net measure alongside higher receipts. [bea-third]

The nonfinancial decline included a settlement adjustment. BEA reported a $4.95 billion settlement between a U.S. Volkswagen subsidiary and federal and state governments. Its annualized equivalent, $19.8 billion, reduced the profit estimate; $19.8 billion was not the actual settlement amount. [bea-third]

What counts as profit here also matters. BEA measures corporate net income before income taxes, adjusted for current production. The inventory valuation adjustment (IVA) and capital consumption adjustment (CCAdj) convert historical-cost inventory withdrawals and fixed-asset depreciation into current-cost economic measures. [bea-third]

The February 28 second release scheduled the March 30 profit report; it supplies timing context, not corroboration of these profit figures. Both share one BEA origin. This retrospective uses current-retrieved, superseded representations marked modified November 1, 2019 (11/1/19), not authenticated 2017 bytes. Exact wording and availability at the March 30 cutoff remain unconfirmed. [bea-second][bea-third]

Source documents

  1. Gross Domestic Product, 4th quarter and annual 2016 (third estimate); Corporate Profits, 4th quarter and annual 2016https://www.bea.gov/news/2017/gross-domestic-product-4th-quarter-and-annual-2016-third-estimate-corporate-profits-4th
  2. Gross Domestic Product, 4th quarter and annual 2016 (second estimate)https://www.bea.gov/news/2017/gross-domestic-product-4th-quarter-and-annual-2016-second-estimate