Public policymakers, from legislators to central bankers, use GDP as a guide to determine policy moves. For example, Congress could pass legislation to spur economic growth if GDP shows that the ...

Each state's GDP compares to that of another country in the world.

Even the areas which contributed positively to gross domestic product (GDP) are not necessarily signs of prosperity. For example, business investment grew at only 1.4 percent in the fourth quarter ...

Dividing the nominal GDP by the deflator removes the effects of inflation. For example, if an economy's prices have increased by 1% since the base year, the deflating number is 1.01. If nominal ...

For example, if prices rose by 5% since the base year, the deflator would be 1.05. Nominal GDP is divided by this deflator (which will be referenced to a specific base year), yielding real GDP.

While the advance estimate and the results for the first two quarters show strong GDP growth, some experts believe a recession is coming — even if they expect it will not be severe. For example ...