Bureau of Economic Analysis

The U.S. net international investment position was -$4,277.1 billion (preliminary) at the end of the first quarter of 2013 compared with -$3,863.9 billion (revised) at the end of the fourth quarter of 2012, as the value of foreign investments in the United States exceeded the value of U.S. investments abroad.

The U.S. net international investment position was -$3,863.9 billion (revised) at the end of 2012 compared with -$3,730.6 billion (revised) at the end of 2011, as the value of foreign investments in the United States exceeded the value of U.S. investments abroad.

Better data generated by a new government survey drove the large upward revisions in U.S. international investment position statistics released today that trimmed the United States’ investment deficit with the rest of the world between 2010 and 2012.

The Treasury Department and the Federal Reserve Board conducted the new survey called Aggregate Holdings of Long-Term Securities by U.S. and Foreign Residents (SLT), which includes…

Quarterly and Annual Statistics

In this release, BEA presents the U.S. international investment position statistics for the first quarter of 2013 along with historical revisions and detailed annual statistics for 2012, including changes in positions resulting from annual financial flows and valuation changes such as price, exchange-rate, and other changes. Quarterly positions are revised for the first quarter of 2009 to the fourth…

Real spending on travel and tourism accelerated in the first quarter of 2013, increasing at an annual rate of 6.8 percent after increasing 2.1 percent (revised) in the fourth quarter of 2012. By comparison, growth in real gross domestic product (GDP) increased 2.4 percent (second estimate) in the first quarter after increasing 0.4 percent in the fourth quarter.

Real spending on travel and tourism accelerated in the first quarter of 2013, increasing at an annual rate of 6.8 percent after increasing 2.1 percent (revised) in the fourth quarter of 2012. By comparison, growth in real gross domestic product (GDP) increased 2.4 percent (second estimate) in the first quarter after increasing 0.4 percent in the fourth quarter.

Roughly every 5 years, the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) releases comprehensive revisions of its major economic accounts. These revisions are generally more detailed than annual revisions, implementing changes in methods, statistics and definitions to better reflect an ever-evolving economy. In December, BEA will release the 2013 comprehensive revision of the Industry Economic Accounts (IEAs), which includes two main sets of statistics,…

Expenditures for research and development (R&D) and for entertainment, literary, and artistic originals provide long-lasting service to the businesses, nonprofit institutions, and government agencies that use them. These expenditures have many characteristics of other fixed assets—ownership rights can be established, and they are long lasting and used repeatedly in production processes. As part of its 14th comprehensive revision of the…

Employers provide employees with retirement benefits largely through two mechanisms: defined contribution plans like 401(k)s or defined benefit pension plans. Under defined benefit plans, employees accrue benefits based on factors such as the employee’s length of service and salary history. Employers provide these promised benefits to employees through a pension fund. Employers, and in some cases employees, make cash contributions to the…

The U.S. current-account deficit—the combined balances on trade in goods and services, income, and net unilateral current transfers—increased to $106.1 billion (preliminary) in the first quarter of 2013 from $102.3 billion (revised) in the fourth quarter of 2012. As a percentage of U.S. gross domestic product, the deficit increased to 2.7 percent from 2.6 percent. The previously published current-account deficit for the fourth quarter was $…