The BEA Wire | BEA's Official Blog
State Personal Income: First Quarter 2014
State personal income increased 0.8 percent on average in the first quarter of 2014, an acceleration from the 0.5 percent growth in the fourth quarter of 2013. Personal income grew in 46 states and growth accelerated in 24 of those states. The fastest growth, 1.4 percent, was in Washington state, Vermont, and West Virginia. Personal income fell 2.9 percent in North Dakota, 0.3 percent in South Dakota, and 0.2 percent in Arkansas and Nebraska.
BEA Listens to Customers' Ideas on How to Unleash Data
As one of the federal government’s premier producers of economic statistics, the Bureau of Economic Analysis is all about data all of the time. So we were thrilled to take part in the inaugural Open Data Roundtable at the White House Conference Center on June 18 and hear from businesses and other vital customers about how we can make our data easier to find, use and understand.
A Big Day for Big Data: The Beginning of Our Data Transformation
Wednesday, June 18, 2014, was a big day for big data. The Commerce Department participated in the inaugural Open Data Roundtable at the White House, with GovLab at NYU and the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. The event brought businesses and non-profit organizations that rely on Commerce data together with Commerce Department officials to discuss how to make the data we collect and release easier to find, understand and…
U.S. Current-Account Deficit Increases in First Quarter 2014
The U.S. current-account deficit—a net measure of transactions between the United States and the rest of the world in goods, services, primary income (investment income and compensation), and secondary income (current transfers)—increased to $111.2 billion (preliminary) in the first quarter of 2014 from $87.3 billion (revised) in the fourth quarter of 2013. As a percent of current-dollar GDP, the deficit increased to 2.6 percent from 2.0…
International Statistical Update: Health- and Education-Related Travel Now Part of Travel Services
You may have noticed some data on international travel services look a little bit different. With the release of the monthly trade report on June 4, spending on health- and education-related travel are now counted in the travel services category. Previously, both were included in a category called “other personal services.”
Attention Developers: More Economic Statistics Added to BEA's API
Developers, do you want to bring more detailed economic data to your next app? The Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) recently added several data sets to the application programming interface (API) we launched last year.
The API now provides direct access to the gross domestic product (GDP) underlying detail tables. Those tables contain a wealth of statistics, including how much consumers spend on hundreds of items like furnishings,…
Advance GDP by State Statistics: Widespread But Slower Growth in 2013
Real GDP increased in 49 states in 2013. Leading industry contributors were nondurable-goods manufacturing; real estate and rental and leasing; and agriculture, forestry, fishing, and hunting. Nondurable-goods manufacturing was the largest contributor to U.S. real GDP by state growth in 2013.
April 2014 Trade Gap is $47.2 Billion
With this release, statistics on trade in goods and services for January 1999 to March 2014 are revised to reflect newly available and revised source data, changes in estimation methods, and changes in definitions and classifications. For more information see www.bea.gov/international/revision-2014.htm.
Real Consumer Spending Falls in April
Personal income increased 0.3 percent in April after increasing 0.5 percent in March. Wages and salaries, the largest component of personal income, increased 0.2 percent after increasing 0.6 percent.
Current-dollar disposable personal income (DPI), after-tax income, increased 0.3 percent in April after increasing 0.5 percent in March.
Real DPI, income adjusted for taxes and inflation, increased 0.2 percent in April…
GDP Declines in First Quarter
Real gross domestic product (GDP) decreased 1.0 percent in the first quarter of 2014, according to the “second” estimate released today by the Bureau of Economic Analysis. In the fourth quarter of 2013, real GDP increased 2.6 percent.
First-quarter GDP highlights The decline in real GDP was more than accounted for by a significant decline in inventory investment, notably by motor vehicle dealerships. In fact, GDP less inventory…
Restructured International Accounts to Offer More Detailed Look at U.S. Trade and Investment
In June, BEA’s international data will be most significant restructuring of BEA’s international data since 1976. The restructured accounts will provide greater and more complete information about the global financial picture and the United States’ place in it.
March 2014 Trade Gap Is $40.4 Billion
The U.S. monthly international trade deficit decreased in March 2014 according to the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis and the U.S. Census Bureau. The deficit decreased from $41.9 billion in February (revised) to $40.4 billion in March as exports increased more than imports. The previously published February deficit was $42.3 billion. The goods deficit decreased $0.6 billion from February to $60.7 billion in March; the services surplus…