Income Taxes

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2018

Income Tax Disclosure [Abstract]

Income Taxes

Income Taxes

The effective tax rates for the three months ended September 30, 2018 and 2017 were 20.0% and 31.2%, respectively. The effective tax rate for the three months ended September 30, 2018 was lower than the corresponding period in 2017 primarily due to the lower federal income tax rate enacted with tax reform in December of 2017.

The effective tax rates for the nine months ended September 30, 2018 and 2017 were 19.6% and 28.7%, respectively. The effective tax rate for the nine months ended September 30, 2018 was lower than the corresponding period in 2017 primarily due to the lower federal income tax rate. The earlier period also included the tax benefits associated with using the marginal income tax rate for the loss on the early extinguishment of debt.