United States Economy - 2005

Economy - overview:
The US has the largest and most technologically powerful economy in the world, with a per capita GDP of $40,100. In this market-oriented economy, private individuals and business firms make most of the decisions, and the federal and state governments buy needed goods and services predominantly in the private marketplace. US business firms enjoy considerably greater flexibility than their counterparts in Western Europe and Japan in decisions to expand capital plant, to lay off surplus workers, and to develop new products. At the same time, they face higher barriers to entry in their rivals' home markets than the barriers to entry of foreign firms in US markets. US firms are at or near the forefront in technological advances, especially in computers and in medical, aerospace, and military equipment; their advantage has narrowed since the end of World War II. The onrush of technology largely explains the gradual development of a "two-tier labor market" in which those at the bottom lack the education and the professional/technical skills of those at the top and, more and more, fail to get comparable pay raises, health insurance coverage, and other benefits. Since 1975, practically all the gains in household income have gone to the top 20% of households. The response to the terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001 showed the remarkable resilience of the economy. The war in March/April 2003 between a US-led coalition and Iraq, and the subsequent occupation of Iraq, required major shifts in national resources to the military. The rise in GDP in 2004 was undergirded by substantial gains in labor productivity. The economy suffered from a sharp increase in energy prices in the second half of 2004. Long-term problems include inadequate investment in economic infrastructure, rapidly rising medical and pension costs of an aging population, sizable trade and budget deficits, and stagnation of family income in the lower economic groups.

GDP:
purchasing power parity - $11.75 trillion (2004 est.)

GDP - real growth rate:
4.4% (2004 est.)

GDP - per capita:
purchasing power parity - $40,100 (2004 est.)

GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture: 0.9%
industry: 19.7%
services: 79.4% (2004 est.)

Labor force:
147.4 million (includes unemployed) (2004 est.)

Labor force - by occupation:
farming, forestry, and fishing 0.7%, manufacturing, extraction, transportation, and crafts 22.7%, managerial, professional, and technical 34.9%, sales and office 25.5%, other services 16.3%
note: figures exclude the unemployed (2004)

Unemployment rate:
5.5% (2004 est.)

Population below poverty line:
12% (2004 est.)

Household income or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%: 1.8%
highest 10%: 30.5% (1997)

Distribution of family income - Gini index:
45 (2004)

Inflation rate (consumer prices):
2.5% (2004 est.)

Investment (gross fixed):
15.7% of GDP (2004 est.)

Budget:
revenues: $1.862 trillion
expenditures: $2.338 trillion, including capital expenditures of NA (2004 est.)

Public debt:
65% of GDP (2004 est.)

Agriculture - products:
wheat, corn, other grains, fruits, vegetables, cotton; beef, pork, poultry, dairy products; forest products; fish

Industries:
leading industrial power in the world, highly diversified and technologically advanced; petroleum, steel, motor vehicles, aerospace, telecommunications, chemicals, electronics, food processing, consumer goods, lumber, mining

Industrial production growth rate:
4.4% (2004 est.)

Electricity - production:
3.839 trillion kWh (2002)

Electricity - consumption:
3.66 trillion kWh (2002)

Electricity - exports:
13.36 billion kWh (2002)

Electricity - imports:
36.23 billion kWh (2002)

Oil - production:
7.8 million bbl/day (2004 est.)

Oil - consumption:
19.65 million bbl/day (2001 est.)

Oil - exports:
NA

Oil - imports:
NA

Oil - proved reserves:
22.45 billion bbl (1 January 2002)

Natural gas - production:
548.1 billion cu m (2001 est.)

Natural gas - consumption:
640.9 billion cu m (2001 est.)

Natural gas - exports:
11.16 billion cu m (2001 est.)

Natural gas - imports:
114.1 billion cu m (2001 est.)

Natural gas - proved reserves:
5.195 trillion cu m (1 January 2002)

Current account balance:
$-646.5 billion (2004 est.)

Exports:
$795 billion f.o.b. (2004 est.)

Exports - commodities:
agricultural products (soybeans, fruit, corn) 9.2%, industrial supplies (organic chemicals) 26.8%, capital goods (transistors, aircraft, motor vehicle parts, computers, telecommunications equipment) 49.0%, consumer goods (automobiles, medicines) 15.0% (2003)

Exports - partners:
Canada 23%, Mexico 13.6%, Japan 6.7%, UK 4.4%, China 4.3% (2004)

Imports:
$1.476 trillion f.o.b. (2004 est.)

Imports - commodities:
agricultural products 4.9%, industrial supplies 32.9% (crude oil 8.2%), capital goods 30.4% (computers, telecommunications equipment, motor vehicle parts, office machines, electric power machinery), consumer goods 31.8% (automobiles, clothing, medicines, furniture, toys) (2003)

Imports - partners:
Canada 17.1%, China 13.7%, Mexico 10.4%, Japan 8.8%, Germany 5.2% (2004)

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold:
$85.94 billion (2003)

Debt - external:
$1.4 trillion (2001 est.)

Economic aid - donor:
ODA, $6.9 billion (1997)

Currency (code):
US dollar (USD)

Exchange rates:
British pounds per US dollar - 0.5457 (2004), 0.6139 (2003), 0.6661 (2002), 0.6944 (2001), 0.6596 (2000); Canadian dollars per US dollar - 1.3014 (2004), 1.4045 (2003), 1.5693 (2002), 1.5488 (2001), 1.4851 (2000); Japanese yen per US dollar - 108.13 (2004), 116.08 (2003), 125.39 (2002), 121.53 (2001), 107.77 (2000); euros per US dollar - 0.8048 (2004), 0.8866 (2003), 1.0626 (2002), 1.1175 (2001), 1.08540 (2000)