Corporate Profits Had Rough Year In 2015

(RTTNews) - Companies earned less money in the fourth quarter of 2015, according to new statistics released on Friday. This marked the second consecutive quarter of declines, giving 2015 the biggest fall in corporate profits since the financial crisis.

Profits from current production dropped $159.6 billion in the fourth quarter, accelerating from the third quarter, when the decline was just $33.0 billion.

The decline in after-tax corporate profits for the quarter represented a slide of 8.4 percent. It was the third quarterly decline of 2015, following a drop of 1.7 percent in the third quarter and a fall of 7.9 percent in the first quarter.

Only the second quarter last year saw an increase in corporate profits. The figure advanced 2.6 percent for the April-to-June period.

For 2015 as a whole, corporate profits were down 5.1 percent. This followed a 0.6 percent slide in the previous year. The drop for 2015 was the biggest since 2008, the heart of the financial crisis.