Advanced data from the Second Quarter Financial Report for Manufacturing, Mining, and Trade Corporations indicate that manufacturing corporations' after-tax profits (seasonally adjusted) averaged 5.7 cents per dollar of sales for the second quarter of 1998, down 1.9 cents from the first quarter of 1998. The Census Bureau also reported that after-tax profits for the second quarter averaged 6.1 cents per dollar of sales, down 1.6 cents from the preceding quarter and down 0.7 cents from the same quarter in 1997. Also available in .pdf format.