US 3Q GDP and Japanese Nov trade surplus

Yesterday, the US Commerce Department released its so-called final estimate of US gross domestic product (GDP) for the third quarter of 2004. Growth is now estimated at an annual rate of 4.0 percent, up from 3.9 percent in the previous estimate. Second quarter growth had been 3.3 percent. The upward revision to the percentage change in third quarter GDP primarily reflected a downward revision to imports.

At the same time, the Commerce Department reported that corporate profits in the third quarter were down US$55.9 billion or 4.8 percent from the previous quarter. From the year-ago quarter, profits were up 5.8 percent. Profits in the third quarter were reduced by $79.7 billion dollars because of hurricanes.

Earlier yesterday, Japan's Finance Ministry reported that the country's trade surplus in November fell 39.2 percent from a year earlier, its first drop in three months. While exports grew 13.4 percent, imports jumped 28 percent as a result of rising prices of raw materials, especially oil.

The trade surplus with the United States was up 12.3 percent while that with the European Union edged up 1.1 percent. Japan's trade surplus with Asia, however, fell 27.2 percent.

Meanwhile, there are, as usual, some great posts on the current account deficit and exchange rates at the two Brads' weblogs: "Rollover Crisis?" and "Martin Wolf explains the fall in the renminbi-dollar".