The BEA Wire | BEA's Official Blog
Travel and Tourism Spending Turned Down in the First Quarter of 2014
Real spending on travel and tourism turned down in the first quarter of 2014, decreasing at an annual rate of 1.0 percent after increasing 4.5 percent (revised) in the fourth quarter of 2013. Growth in real gross domestic product (GDP) also experienced a down turn, decreasing 2.9 percent (third estimate) in the first quarter after increasing 2.6 percent in the fourth quarter.
Personal Income Rises in May
Personal income increased 0.4 percent in May after increasing 0.3 percent in April. Wages and salaries, the largest component of personal income, increased 0.4 percent after increasing 0.3 percent.
Current-dollar disposable personal income (DPI), after-tax income, increased 0.4 percent in May, the same increase as in April.
Real DPI, income adjusted for taxes and inflation, increased0.2percent in May, the same…
GDP Decreases in First Quarter
Real gross domestic product (GDP) decreased 2.9 percent in the first quarter of 2014, according to the “third” estimate released today by the Bureau of Economic Analysis. In the fourth quarter of 2013, real GDP increased 2.6 percent.
First-quarter highlights
The decline in real GDP was largely accounted for by significant declines in nonfarm inventory investment and in net exports.
In addition, state and local…
Direct Investment Positions for 2013 Now Available
Both outbound and inbound U.S. foreign direct investment continued to grow in 2013. The U.S. direct investment position abroad valued at historical cost increased to $4,660.9 billion from $4,384.7 billion in 2012. The foreign direct investment position in the United States valued at historical cost increased to $2,764.0 billion from $2,605.8 billion in 2012.
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.