Bureau of Economic Analysis

A blog post from BEA Director Vipin Arora

I wouldn’t imagine the phrase “data quality” stirs the imagination of many people. I get it. Artificial intelligence or big data—or even e-commerce, to take it back a few years—sound more exciting. Our team at BEA, however, gets fired up about data quality, especially improving data quality. That’s great, you might be thinking, but what exactly do you mean by data quality?

Real gross domestic product (GDP) increased at an annual rate of 0.7 percent in the fourth quarter of 2025 (October, November, and December), according to the second estimate released today by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis. In the third quarter, real GDP increased 4.4 percent. The contributors to the increase in real GDP in the fourth quarter were increases in consumer spending and investment. These movements were partly offset by…

Personal income increased $113.8 billion (0.4 percent at a monthly rate) in January, according to estimates released today by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis. Disposable personal income (DPI)—personal income less personal current taxes—increased $219.9 billion (0.9 percent), and personal consumption expenditures (PCE) increased $81.1 billion (0.4 percent). Personal outlays—the sum of PCE, personal interest payments, and personal current…

The U.S. monthly international trade deficit decreased in January 2026 according to the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis and the U.S. Census Bureau. The deficit decreased from $72.9 billion in December (revised) to $54.5 billion in January, as exports increased and imports decreased. The goods deficit decreased $17.5 billion in January to $81.8 billion. The services surplus increased $1.0 billion in January to $27.3 billion.

The value added of the outdoor recreation economy accounted for 2.4 percent ($696.7 billion) of current-dollar gross domestic product (GDP) for the nation in 2024. Across states and the District of Columbia, value added for outdoor recreation as a share of state GDP ranged from 6.1 percent in Hawaii to 1.0 percent in the District of Columbia.

A blog post from BEA Director Vipin Arora

We use the word “granular” a lot at BEA. It’s not a term that comes up much in day-to-day conversation elsewhere. When I first started hearing it here regularly, I always pictured salt. As in granulated salt. That isn’t crazy—apparently granularity first entered the English language in the 17th century to describe texture. It’s slowly evolved to mean level of detail, which is how we use…

SUITLAND, Md. – The following update to BEA’s post-shutdown economic release schedule is currently available:

U.S. International Trade in Goods and Services, January 2026, will be released March 12 at 8:30 a.m. These data were originally scheduled for release on March 5. 

See BEA’s full economic release schedule on our website.   

A blog post from BEA Director Vipin Arora 

Throughout our history, BEA’s statistics have been developed and used for many purposes. Whether to shed light on the flow of goods and services abroad; compare buying power from one metropolitan area to another; or highlight the income available for saving or spending—and  much, much more—our statistics are used by people all over the country. That includes data users…

Real gross domestic product (GDP) increased at an annual rate of 1.4 percent in the fourth quarter of 2025 (October, November, and December), according to the advance estimate released today by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis. In the third quarter, real GDP increased 4.4 percent. The contributors to the increase in real GDP in the fourth quarter were increases in consumer spending and investment. These movements were partly offset by…

Personal income increased $86.2 billion (0.3 percent at a monthly rate) in December, according to estimates released today by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis. Disposable personal income (DPI)—personal income less personal current taxes—increased $75.7 billion (0.3 percent), and personal consumption expenditures (PCE) increased $91.0 billion (0.4 percent). Personal outlays—the sum of PCE, personal interest payments, and personal current…