GDP Growth Rate

The GDP growth rate measures the percentage change in a country's gross domestic product from one period to the next, most commonly reported quarter over quarter at a seasonally adjusted annual rate or year over year, and is the standard single-number summary of whether an economy is expanding or contracting. In the United States it is estimated and revised in a series of releases (advance, second, and third estimates) by the Bureau of Economic Analysis roughly a month, two months and three months after each quarter ends, and two consecutive quarters of negative growth is the informal rule of thumb many commentators use to describe a recession, though the US National Bureau of Economic Research's own official recession dating relies on a broader set of indicators.