US real gross domestic product increased at an annual rate of 1.4% in the fourth quarter, according to a new estimate that revises upward a previous estimate of 1.0%.

In the third quarter, real GDP increased 2.0%.

The estimate exceeded the median forecast of 73 economists surveyed by Bloomberg, which called for fourth-quarter growth of 1.0%, with projections ranging from no change to a 1.4% gain.

CNBC reported there was some bad news in the GDP report, with corporate profits falling for a second straight quarter as a strong dollar and cheap oil undercut the earnings of multi-national companies.

“It’s really US consumers who are powering the global economy forward at this point,” said Gus Faucher, an economist at PNC Financial Services Group Inc. in Pittsburgh told Bloomberg. “At the same time, “there are pressures on businesses in terms of the stronger dollar, rising labor costs and slowing productivity growth” even as a rise in energy prices will help ease that drag for oil producers.

Growth in the staffing industry is strongly correlated with GDP growth, according to research from Staffing Industry Analysts.