THE PROFITABILITY of domestic nonfinancial corporations continued to rise in 2012 from interim lows in 2009, according to statistics from the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA). A similar but broader measure of profitability for nonfinancial industries - which includes proprietors' income - rose for a second straight year in 2011, the most recent year for which these statistics are available. Once a year, BEA reports on sector rates of return for domestic nonfinancial corporations, nonfinancial industries, and a few major industry groups - mining, construction, and utilities; manufacturing; wholesale and retail trade; and "other" nonfinancial industries. Various Tobin's Q ratios, which compare the financial-market value of assets with the replacement-cost value of produced assets are also presented.
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