From Kimberly Amadeo,
Your Guide to US Economy.
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To understand the government's GDP reports as they are released, it is helpful to see how much they change with each release. Here is an archive of blog posts for each GDP release since Q4 2006.

Each quarterly GDP report gets three releases:

1. Advance Report Comes out one month after the quarter ends. This can often be wildly different from the final report, simply because all of the trade and business inventory data is not in yet.
2. Preliminary Report Comes out two months after the end of the quarter. This is usually pretty realistic.
3. Final Report Comes out three months after the end of the quarter. This usually only tweaks the Preliminary Report, but it is important because this is the number that will go down in history as the official number.

Q1 2008 GDP

Advance Report: Still Not a Recession -- Q1 2008 GDP Remains at .6% - Explains why slow growth, though painful, may mean the economy will avoid a recession.

Q4 2007 GDP

Advance Report: Q4 GDP Plummets to .6% - Discusses why the economy slumped and the risk of recession.

Preliminary Report: Revised 2007 Q4 GDP Remains at Paltry .6% - The BEA reported that new data confirmed 2007 Q4 GDP was only .6%.

Final Report: Revised 2007 Q4 GDP Remains Unchanged at .6% - The final report confirms that 2007 Q4 GDP was .6%.

Q3 2007 GDP

Advance Report: GDP Growth 3.9% in Q3 2007 - Explains why GDP is still so healthy, why it may decline in Q4, and the annual outlook.

Preliminary Report: Q3 GDP Growth Revised Up - Discusses the surprising jump in GDP growth to 4.9%, the factors behind the revision, and the outlook for Q4.

Final Report: Final Q3 GDP Remains at 4.9% - Explains why the Final Report remained at a still astounding 4.9%.

Q2 2007 GDP

Advance Report: How Can GDP Go From .6% in Q1 to 3.4% in Q2? - Describes why it is unlikely that in the Q2 2007 Advance Report, GDP could jump up so radically from the previous quarter.

Preliminary Report: Q2 GDP Growth Revised Up - Describes why GDP was revised up to an astounding 4%.

Final Report: Final Q2 GDP Revised Down Slightly - Explains why the Final Report was revised down slightly to 3.8%.

Q1 2007 GDP

Advance Report: What Does 1.2% GDP Growth Mean to You? - Explains the significance of 1.2% GDP growth estimated in the Advance Report, and how it affects the reader's life.

Dow High, GDP Low - Deja Vu All Over Again - Explains why the stock market hit a new high when the underlying economy dropped to a new low, and how this is like March 2000, the beginning of the last recession.

Preliminary Report: Q1 GDP Revised Down - Describes why GDP was revised down to .5.

Final Report: Q1 GDP Growth Revised Up Slightly - GDP was revised up .1 point, to .6, the lowest growth rate in four years.

Q4 2006 GDP

Advance Report: U.S. Economy Growth Rate Up 3.5% in Q4 2006 - Discusses why growth was so high in the Advance Report.

Preliminary Report: BEA News Release - The Preliminary GDP report for Q4 2006, which showed growth at only 2.2%.

Final Report: U.S. Economic Growth Revised Up - Explains why the GDP growth rate for Q4 2006 was revised up to 2.5%.