Nonprofits in the U.S. are big business, and the finances of charitable nonprofits in particular are growing much faster than the national economy, a new report says.

Over 1.4 million nonprofits, including public charities, foundations and other tax-exempt groups like trade associations and labor unions, were registered with the IRS in 2004 and accounted for 5.2 percent of gross domestic product and 8.3 percent of wages and salaries paid in the U.S., says The Nonprofit Sector in Brief.

Nonprofits overall accounted for $1.4 trillion in revenue and $3 trillion in assets in 2004, says the report, which features highlights from the Nonprofit Almanac 2007 that will be published soon by the National Center for Charitable Statistics at the Urban Institute.

For details, see The Philanthropy Journal.