Did you know that each year BEA regional economic statistics, such as annual personal income and per capita personal income are used to allocate billions of dollars in federal funds to states and local governments? In fiscal year 2015, nearly $400 billion in federal funds were distributed under programs using BEA statistics in federal funding formulas.
Each year BEA gathers information on the amounts distributed by federal programs using BEA regional economic statistics. BEA recently released materials detailing the amounts distributed in fiscal year 2015. The information can be found on BEA’s Web site at http://www.bea.gov/regional/about.cfm under “Uses of the Regional Program Estimates.”
The use of BEA regional economic statistics in federal funding formulas is just one example of the important role of these data and underscores why the accuracy and timeliness of these statistics are so crucial.
