U.S. corporate profits reached a new record high in the third quarter of $1.221 trillion (at an annual rate), after taxes and adjustments for inventory valuation and capital consumption (see graph above, data here), according to today’s BEA report. Compared to the second quarter, corporate profits increased by $12.6 billion during the summer months, and that makes seven straight quarterly gains in profits going back to the first quarter of 2009. From the cyclical bottom of $774 billion of profits in the fourth quarter of 2008, profits for U.S. companies have rebounded by 57.6%, and by $446.5 billion.
Adjusted for inflation (using the Business Sector Deflator), real corporate profits in the third quarter were just slightly below the all-time record high of $1.229 trillion in third quarter of 2006 (see red line in graph above).
See related NY Times report here.
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