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.

The U.S. net international investment position, the difference between U.S. residents’ foreign financial assets and liabilities, was -$27.61 trillion at the end of the third quarter of 2025, according to statistics released today by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis. Assets totaled $41.27 trillion, and liabilities were $68.89 trillion. At the end of the second quarter, the net investment position was -$26.16 trillion (revised).

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 narrowed by $22.8 billion, or 9.2 percent, to $226.4 billion in the third quarter of 2025, according to statistics released today by BEA. The revised second-quarter deficit was $249.2 billion. The third-quarter deficit was 2.9 percent of current-dollar gross domestic product, down from 3.3 percent in the second quarter.