Microeconomics 18th Edition by Campbell McConnell, Stanley Brue, Sean Flynn

Exercise 18

CORPORATE PROFITS-WHICH INDUSTRIES ARE MAKING THE MOST The Bureau of Economic Analysis provides profit data for various industries in the United States. Go to www.bea.gov and find National Income and Product Account Table 6.16D on Corporate Profits by Industry. Based on the most-recent figures, which of the following categories of industry classifications has the greatest profits: ( a ) financial or nonfinancial; ( b ) manufacturing, transportation, wholesale trade, or retail trade; ( c ) durable goods or nondurable goods Compared to the same quarter a year earlier, which sectors had the largest and smallest percentage increases in profit Which sectors, if any, experienced losses What are the implications of the profit changes for expansion or contraction of the particular industries