Did you know that Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) regional economic statistics, such as the annual state personal income statistics released September 25, 2012, are used to allocate billions of dollars in federal funds to state and local governments?
In fiscal year 2011, more than $339 billion in federal funds were distributed under programs using U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis statistics in funding formulas.
Each year, BEA collects information and reports on the amounts distributed by federal programs using BEA regional economic statistics. BEA recently released reports detailing the allocation of amounts distributed in fiscal year 2011. The information can be found on BEA’s Web site under “Uses of the Regional Program Estimates”.
The use of BEA regional economic statistics in federal funding formulas is only one of the important uses of these data and is just one reason why the accuracy and timeliness of these statistics are so important.