Want to stay on top of what’s happening with state economies? BEA’s 2021 calendar has some new dates to circle. Next year our key state economic measure will be published earlier each quarter. And we’ll introduce inflation-adjusted consumer spending statistics for every state.
You can always find the release dates for the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis’ state, national, industry, and international statistics at bea.gov/schedule. The newly posted 2021 calendar marks another step forward in initiatives that already are speeding up some state and local statistics by weeks, or in some cases months, this year.
We began by moving up quarterly gross domestic product statistics for all 50 states and the District of Columbia this year, closer to the release of U.S. GDP and industry GDP, after more than two years of research and testing to coordinate production of these three essential data sets.
Like U.S. GDP, a state’s GDP estimates the value of the goods and services produced in that state. GDP statistics measure the growth or decline of each state’s economy over time, with breakdowns by industry, and enable comparisons with other states and the nation.
BEA estimates U.S. GDP three times in the months following each quarter, to refine its accuracy as more and better source data become available. Beginning this December and throughout 2021, we’ll issue quarterly GDP by state the day after the third estimate of U.S. GDP (this third estimate now also includes accelerated GDP by industry statistics).
Bringing together the state, industry, and national perspectives of GDP within two days offers you faster access to a deeper, more detailed picture of changes in the nation’s economy.
In December 2021, BEA plans to publish for the first time official inflation-adjusted statistics that will help you track consumer spending over time in each state. Experimental estimates of these state-level real personal consumption expenditures, or real PCE, were published in the September 2020 issue of the Survey of Current Business.
State PCE, also known as consumer spending, reflects the value of the goods and services purchased by a state’s households or on their behalf (such as medical bills paid by a person’s insurance company).
BEA already estimates annual PCE by state at current dollars. The new real PCE statistics will be inflation adjusted using our PCE by state price index, which measures U.S. price changes over time, and our regional price parities, which capture price level differences across states.
The real PCE by state statistics, for 2008 through 2020, will accompany the release of statistics on real personal income by state and metropolitan area and the annual regional price parities on Dec. 14, 2021. For the first time, the regional price parities, or RPPs, will be weighted using BEA’s public PCE data, instead of restricted-access data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
When updating your 2021 calendar, don’t forget our economic statistics for the more than 3,000 U.S. counties. County and metropolitan area 2020 personal income statistics are set for release Nov. 16, 2021. County and metropolitan area GDP comes on Dec. 8 next year.