The BEA Wire | BEA's Official Blog

Personal income increased 0.5 percent in June after increasing 0.3 percent in May. Wages and salaries, the largest component of personal income, increased 0.5 percent in June after increasing 0.1 percent in May.

Real gross domestic product (GDP) rose 1.5 percent in the second quarter after rising 2.0 percent in the first quarter, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis. According to the 2012 annual revision, the first-quarter growth rate was revised up 0.1 percentage point.

In late June, the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) reported that the economy grew at a 1.9 percent annual rate in the first quarter of 2011. This, our third estimate for the quarter, turned out to be lower than our initial estimate of a 2.2 percent growth rate made in late April.

In 2009, annual gross domestic product (GDP) for durable goods manufacturing showed a double-digit decline. The industry was the leading annual contributor to the bottoming out of the U.S. economy for that year.

New changes in the method of informing businesses about requirements for submitting Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) surveys will increase the efficiency of the process and reduce paperwork for both survey respondents and BEA.

The U.S. monthly international trade deficit decreased in May, according to the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis and the U.S. Census Bureau. The deficit decreased from $50.6 billion (revised) in April to $48.7 billion in May, as imports decreased and exports increased.

The U.S. current account is the broadest measure of trade and income flows between the United States and the rest of the world. Together with the capital and financial account, it is a component of the international transactions accounts compiled by the Bureau of Economic Analysis.

Personal income increased 0.2 percent in May, the same increase as in April. The increase in wages and salaries was less than 0.1 percent in May, compared with an increase of 0.1 percent in April.

Real gross domestic product (GDP) rose 1.9 percent in the first quarter of 2012 after rising 3.0 percent in the fourth quarter, according to estimates released by the Bureau of Economic Analysis. The first-quarter growth rate was unchanged from the second estimate released in May.

State personal income growth accelerated to 0.8 percent in the first quarter of 2012, from 0.4 percent in the fourth quarter of 2011. Personal income rose in 47 of the 50 states, fell in Kansas and Mississippi, and was unchanged in Oklahoma.

The U.S. net international investment position at yearend 2011 was –$4,030.3 billion (preliminary), as the value of foreign investment in the United States exceeded the value of U.S. investment abroad. At yearend 2010, the U.S.

Globalization, the financial crisis, the Great Recession, and Europe’s fiscal problems underscore just how important it is for countries to produce timely, accurate, and consistent data.