notes to five year summary ( a ) includes the effects of items not considered in the assessment of the operating performance of our business segments ( see the section , 201cresults of operations 2013 unallocated corporate ( expense ) income , net 201d in management 2019s discussion and analysis of financial condition and results of operations ( md&a ) ) which , on a combined basis , increased earnings from continuing operations before income taxes by $ 214 million , $ 139 million after tax ( $ 0.31 per share ) .
also includes a reduction in income tax expense of $ 62 million ( $ 0.14 per share ) resulting from a tax benefit related to claims we filed for additional extraterritorial income exclusion ( eti ) tax benefits .
these items increased earnings by $ 201 million after tax ( $ 0.45 per share ) .
( b ) includes the effects of items not considered in the assessment of the operating performance of our business segments ( see the section , 201cresults of operations 2013 unallocated corporate ( expense ) income , net 201d in md&a ) which , on a combined basis , increased earnings from continuing operations before income taxes by $ 173 million , $ 113 million after tax ( $ 0.25 per share ) .
( c ) includes the effects of items not considered in the assessment of the operating performance of our business segments ( see the section , 201cresults of operations 2013 unallocated corporate ( expense ) income , net 201d in md&a ) which , on a combined basis , decreased earnings from continuing operations before income taxes by $ 215 million , $ 154 million after tax ( $ 0.34 per share ) .
also includes a reduction in income tax expense resulting from the closure of an internal revenue service examination of $ 144 million ( $ 0.32 per share ) .
these items reduced earnings by $ 10 million after tax ( $ 0.02 per share ) .
( d ) includes the effects of items not considered in the assessment of the operating performance of our business segments which , on a combined basis , decreased earnings from continuing operations before income taxes by $ 153 million , $ 102 million after tax ( $ 0.22 per share ) .
( e ) includes the effects of items not considered in the assessment of the operating performance of our business segments which , on a combined basis , decreased earnings from continuing operations before income taxes by $ 1112 million , $ 632 million after tax ( $ 1.40 per share ) .
( f ) we define return on invested capital ( roic ) as net earnings plus after-tax interest expense divided by average invested capital ( stockholders 2019 equity plus debt ) , after adjusting stockholders 2019 equity by adding back adjustments related to postretirement benefit plans .
we believe that reporting roic provides investors with greater visibility into how effectively we use the capital invested in our operations .
we use roic to evaluate multi-year investment decisions and as a long-term performance measure , and also use it as a factor in evaluating management performance under certain of our incentive compensation plans .
roic is not a measure of financial performance under gaap , and may not be defined and calculated by other companies in the same manner .
roic should not be considered in isolation or as an alternative to net earnings as an indicator of performance .
we calculate roic as follows : ( in millions ) 2006 2005 2004 2003 2002 .

( in millions )
2006
2005
2004
2003
2002
net earnings
$ 2529
$ 1825
$ 1266
$ 1053
$ 500
interest expense ( multiplied by 65% ( 65 % ) ) 1
235
241
276
317
378
return
$ 2764
$ 2066
$ 1542
$ 1370
$ 878
average debt2 5
$ 4727
$ 5077
$ 5932
$ 6612
$ 7491
average equity3 5
7686
7590
7015
6170
6853
average benefit plan adjustments3 45
2006
1545
1296
1504
341
average invested capital
$ 14419
$ 14212
$ 14243
$ 14286
$ 14685
return on invested capital
19.2% ( 19.2 % )
14.5% ( 14.5 % )
10.8% ( 10.8 % )
9.6% ( 9.6 % )
6.0% ( 6.0 % )

1 represents after-tax interest expense utilizing the federal statutory rate of 35% ( 35 % ) .
2 debt consists of long-term debt , including current maturities , and short-term borrowings ( if any ) .
3 equity includes non-cash adjustments , primarily for the additional minimum pension liability in all years and the adoption of fas 158 in 2006 .
4 average benefit plan adjustments reflect the cumulative value of entries identified in our statement of stockholders equity under the captions 201cadjustment for adoption of fas 158 201d and 201cminimum pension liability . 201d the annual benefit plan adjustments to equity were : 2006 = ( $ 1883 ) million ; 2005 = ( $ 105 ) million ; 2004 = ( $ 285 ) million ; 2003 = $ 331 million ; and 2002 = ( $ 1537 ) million .
as these entries are recorded in the fourth quarter , the value added back to our average equity in a given year is the cumulative impact of all prior year entries plus 20% ( 20 % ) of the current year entry value .
5 yearly averages are calculated using balances at the start of the year and at the end of each quarter. .

Question: what was the percentage change in the net earnings from 2005 to 2006
Answer: 38.6%