Quarterly GDP growth can be calculated either in terms of YoY change or — in the case of seasonally adjusted data — in terms of QoQ change. (A third option would be to annualize the QoQ rate.)
To start with a current example: In the U.S., GDP in Q1 2018 grew by 2.9% compared to Q1 2017 (= YoY), whereas it grew by 0.7% compared to Q4 2017 (= QoQ).
In Q4 2017, however, YoY growth was at 2.6%, whereas QoQ growth was at 0.7%. So GDP growth in Q1 2018 was higher compared to the previous quarter in terms of YoY (2.6% -> 2.9%), whereas it was slightly lower compared to the previous quarter in terms of QoQ (0.7% -> 0.6%).
Now in judging an economy's growth momentum, analysts typically focus on changes in QoQ growth rates - in the example above coming to a conclusion like "growth in the U.S. slightly lost momentum in Q1 2018".
My question is: Is there a different term to express changes in the YoY rate? To stay with the example above, if I comment on the fact that the U.S. YoY rate is up to 2.9% from 2.6%, concluding that there was a “strengthening of growth momentum” might be misleading (especially given the diverging picture based on changes in the QoQ rate).