The BEA Wire | BEA's Official Blog

The U.S. monthly international trade deficit increased in August 2016 according to the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis and the U.S. Census Bureau. The deficit increased from $39.5 billion in July (revised) to $40.7 billion in August, as imports increased more than exports.

Growth in state personal consumption expenditures (PCE) – the measure of goods and services purchased by or on behalf of households – decelerated to 3.6 percent in 2015 from 4.4 percent in 2014. In 2015, growth in PCE was largely concentrated in the Far West and Rocky Mountain regions.

Personal income increased 0.2 percent in August after increasing 0.4 percent in July. Wages and salaries, the largest component of personal income, increased 0.1 percent in August after increasing 0.5 percent in July.

Real gross domestic product (GDP) increased 1.4 percent in the second 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 August.

State personal income growth accelerated to 1.0 percent on average in the second quarter of 2016 from 0.3 percent in the first quarter. Personal income grew in every state in the second-quarter with growth rates ranging from 0.4 percent in Alaska to 1.4 percent in Utah.

The U.S. net international investment position decreased to −$8,042.8 billion (preliminary) at the end of the second quarter of 2016 from −$7,582.0 billion (revised) at the end of the first quarter.

The Bureau of Economic Analysis released estimates of gross domestic product for Guam for 2015, in addition to estimates of GDP by industry and compensation by industry for 2014.

The U.S. current-account deficit decreased to $119.9 billion (preliminary) in the second quarter of 2016 from $131.8 billion (revised) in the first quarter of 2016. As a percentage of current-dollar U.S. GDP, the deficit decreased to 2.6 percent from 2.9 percent.

Real Tourism Spending.