April 9, 2026
It is important to remember that final sales is a measure of how many domestically produced goods are sold each quarter. But we also sell goods overseas — our exports. And we purchase goods from other countries — our imports.
In the never-ending process of analyzing the GDP data, there is yet another series called “final sales to domestic purchasers” which measures how much U.S. residents are actually spending. It starts with final sales, but then subtracts exports (which represents how much foreigners are buying from the U.S.) and adds imports (which represents how much U.S. residents are spending on imports). The end result is a measure of sales by domestic purchasers.
Thus, final sales to domestic purchasers is GDP less the change in both inventories and trade. Final sales to domestic purchasers rose 0.6% in the fourth quarter after climbing by 2.8% in the third quarter. With an increase in final sales of 0.3% and final sales to domestic purchasers of 0.6%, trade subtracted 0.3% from GDP growth in the fourth quarter.
Stephen Slifer
NumberNomics
Charleston, SC
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