GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT (GDP)
Market Sensitivity: Medium to high.
What Is It: The foremost report on the health of the economy, GDP measures
how fast or slow the economy is growing.
News Release on Internet: www.bea.doc.gov/bea/dn/home/gdp.htm
Home Web Address: www.bea.doc.gov
Release Time: 8:30 A.M. (ET); advance estimates are released the final week of
January, April, July, and October. Two rounds of revisions follow, each a
month apart. (The Bureau of Economic Analysis expects to speed up the
release of the GDP by two weeks in 2006.)
Frequency: Quarterly.
Source: Bureau of Economic Analysis, Commerce Department.
Revisions: Monthly revisions tend to be moderate, though they can on occasion
be more substantial. There are also annual revisions that are normally done at
the end of July and reflect more complete information. Benchmark or historic
revisions take place every five years or so with changes that can go back to
1929 when the GDP series began.