Along with its final revision of Q4 GDP, the Commerce Department today released [link opens in PDF] its latest estimate on corporate profits for last quarter and 2012 overall.
For Q4 2012, corporate profits clocked in at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $2.01 trillion, 3.1% above 2011's fourth-quarter number. Taxes on corporate income jumped 21% year-over-year in the fourth quarter, while after-tax profits with inventory and capital consumption adjustments fell 1.1% to an annual rate of $1.57 trillion. Not accounting for inventories and capital consumption, Q4 profits improved 13.3% year-over-year to a rate of $1.77 trillion.
Domestic industries accounted for a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $1.56 trillion in profit (with inventory and capital consumption adjustments), while overseas corporations notched a $452 billion annual rate in the fourth quarter. In absolute terms, manufacturing improved the most from Q3 to Q4, adding on $15.3 billion more in profits to the annual rate. For the same period, transportation and warehousing brought up the rear with a $14.9 billion drop.
For 2012 overall, profits from current production bumped up 6.8%, slightly below 2011's 7.3% improvement. Domestic profits pushed ahead 9.5%, but overseas profit dipped 2% in the last year. With profit pushing higher, tax rates swelled to 18.5% in 2012, compared to a mild 1.5% hike in 2011.
