International Trade & Investment

Worldwide employment by U.S. multinational enterprises decreased 0.4 percent to 43.9 million workers in 2023 (preliminary) from 44.1 million workers in 2022 (revised), according to statistics released today by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis on the operations and finances of U.S. parent companies and their foreign affiliates.

Expenditures by foreign direct investors to acquire, establish, or expand U.S. businesses totaled $151.0 billion in 2024, according to preliminary statistics released today by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis. Expenditures decreased $24.9 billion, or 14.2 percent, from $176.0 billion (revised) in 2023 and were below the annual average of $277.2 billion for 2014–2023. As in previous years, acquisitions of existing U.S. businesses accounted for most of the expenditures.

The U.S. current-account deficit resulting from international economic transactions narrowed by $48.4 billion, or 20.2 percent, to $190.7 billion in the fourth quarter of 2025, according to statistics released today by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis. The revised third-quarter deficit was $239.1 billion. The fourth-quarter deficit was 2.4 percent of current-dollar gross domestic product, down from 3.1 percent in the third quarter.