August 26, 2016
The Commerce Department released data on corporate profits along with its preliminary GDP report for the second quarter of 2016. It showed that the profit share of corporate income is continuing to edge downward. The before tax share of corporate profits (net operating surplus) was 24.2 percent in the second quarter of 2016. This is down from a peak of 27.4 percent in the third quarter of 2014, but still well above 20.4 percent average for the four decades prior to the collapse of the housing bubble. With profit data it is always important to include the caution that the numbers are erratic and subject to large revisions.
Source: Bureau of Economic Analysis.
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