For ease of comparison, BEA publishes percent changes in most quarterly estimates at annual rates. If GDP increases 3.0 percent from year 1 to year 2 and increases at an annual rate of 3.6 percent in the first quarter of year 3, it is easy to see that the first-quarter growth rate is larger than the growth for year 2. If the growth rate in the first quarter of year 3 was presented at the quarterly rate of 1.0 percent, comparing it to the year 2 growth rate is more difficult.| www.bea.gov