The BEA Wire | BEA's Official Blog

The U.S. net international investment position, the difference between U.S. residents’ foreign financial assets and liabilities, was –$21.28 trillion at the end of the first quarter of 2024, according to statistics released today by the Bureau of Economic Analysis.

BEA has released a set of prototype statistics that help assess how households share in each state’s economic growth.

The U.S. current-account deficit, which reflects the combined balances on trade in goods and services and income flows between U.S. residents and residents of other countries, widened by $15.9 billion, or 7.2 percent, to $237.6 billion in the first quarter of 2024.

Real gross domestic product for the U.S. Virgin Islands decreased 1.3 percent in 2022 after increasing 3.7 percent in 2021, according to statistics released today by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis.

U.S. firms in the finance and insurance sector led both U.S. exports and imports of services in 2022, according to a new Bureau of Economic Analysis article that presents a profile of companies that export and/or import services.

Here is a fact that may surprise you: The Bureau of Economic Analysis conducts 17 surveys. Yes, the home of gross domestic product, personal consumption expenditure prices, and the current account is also in the big leagues when it comes to running surveys. Not just any surveys, but some of the most unique ones around—collecting information that ranges from direct investment and the activities of multinational enterprises (AMNEs) to U.S. international trade in services.

The Marine Economy Satellite Account statistics released today by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis show the marine economy accounted for $476.2 billion, or 1.8 percent, of current-dollar U.S. gross domestic product in 2022, an increase from $424.2 billion, or 1.8 percent, in 2021.

The U.S. goods and services trade deficit increased from $68.6 billion in March (revised) to $74.6 billion in April, as imports increased more than exports. The goods deficit increased $5.9 billion to $99.2 billion, and the services surplus decreased $0.1 billion to $24.7 billion. 

BEA will begin publishing on June 26 new quarterly detail for the U.S. international investment position (IIP), a statistical balance sheet that presents the dollar value of U.S. financial assets and liabilities with respect to other countries at the end of each quarter and year.  The IIP statistics are published in BEA news releases and interactive data tables in March, June, September, and December.

Personal income increased $65.3 billion (0.3 percent at a monthly rate) in April. Disposable personal income —personal income less personal current taxes—increased $40.2 billion (0.2 percent).

Real gross domestic product increased at an annual rate of 1.3 percent in the first quarter of 2024, according to the “second” estimate. In the fourth quarter of 2023, real GDP increased 3.4 percent.

A blog post from BEA Director Vipin Arora

At BEA we often highlight the comprehensiveness of our statistics. I like to illustrate using the analogy of my favorite Las Vegas dessert buffet. This buffet has an endless variety of desserts: from apple strudel to upside-down cake, there is something for everyone. I would argue our statistics are comprehensive in the same way—there is something for every data user.