The BEA Wire | BEA's Official Blog

Personal income increased 0.3 percent in December after increasing 0.1 percent in November. Wages and salaries, the largest component of personal income, increased 0.4 percent in December after decreasing 0.1 percent in November.

Real gross domestic product (GDP) increased 1.9 percent in the fourth quarter of 2016, according to the “advance” estimate released by the Bureau of Economic Analysis. In the third quarter, real GDP increased 3.5 percent.

Finance and insurance; wholesale trade; and information services were the leading contributors to the increase in U.S. economic growth in the third quarter of 2016. Overall, 20 of 22 industry groups contributed to the 3.5 percent increase in real GDP in the third quarter.

More g

The U.S. monthly international trade deficit increased in November 2016 according to the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis and the U.S. Census Bureau. The deficit increased from $42.4 billion in October (revised) to $45.2 billion in November, as exports decreased and imports increased.

The U.S. net international investment position increased to −$7,781.1 billion (preliminary) at the end of the third quarter of 2016 from −$8,026.9 billion (revised) at the end of the second quarter.

Personal income was unchanged in November after increasing 0.5 percent in October. Wages and salaries, the largest component of personal income, decreased 0.1 percent in November after increasing 0.5 percent in October.

Real gross domestic product (GDP) increased 3.5 percent in the third quarter of 2016, according to the “third” estimate released by the Bureau of Economic Analysis. The growth rate was 0.3 percentage point higher than the “second” estimate released in November.

State personal income growth decelerated to 1.1 percent on average in the third quarter of 2016 from 1.2 percent in the second quarter. Personal income grew in every state in the second-quarter with growth rates ranging from 0.4 percent in Oklahoma to 1.4 percent in South Dakota.

Detailed statistics on the worldwide activities of U.S. multinational enterprises in 2014, including the finances and operations of U.S. parent companies and their foreign affiliates, are now available from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis.

The U.S. current-account deficit decreased to $113.0 billion (preliminary) in the third quarter of 2016 from $118.3 billion (revised) in the second quarter of 2016. As a percentage of U.S. GDP, the deficit decreased to 2.4 percent from 2.6 percent.