GDP (advance, second and third estimates)
The total value of goods and services produced in a country, first estimated about a month after each quarter ends and revised twice.
Gross domestic product is the total market value of goods and services produced in a country over a period. In the US, the Bureau of Economic Analysis publishes an advance estimate about a month after the quarter ends, a second estimate about a month later and a third about a month after that. Each revision incorporates more complete source data, so the figure can change meaningfully.
On our site, GDP is shown as a quarterly annualized growth rate, with the estimate stage labeled. Compare the stage with the one before it, since a revision can change the story more than the first print.
Traders care because growth data changes expectations for earnings, rates and the dollar. Revisions to a prior quarter can matter as much as the newest figure.
Worked example (illustrative numbers, not real data): the advance estimate shows 2.0 percent annualized growth. The second estimate revises it to 2.6 percent as more trade and inventory data arrive, and the third holds at 2.5 percent. The largest change came at the second estimate, which is when most new source data enter.