Short facts about the economy in United States
| Economy -
overview: |
The US has the largest and most
technologically powerful economy in the world, with a per capita GDP of $36,200.
In this market-oriented economy, private individuals and business firms make
most of the decisions, and government buys 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, lay off surplus workers, and 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, although 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 years 1994-2000 witnessed
solid increases in real output, low inflation rates, and a drop in unemployment
to below 5%. Long-term problems include inadequate investment in economic
infrastructure, rapidly rising medical costs of an aging population, sizable
trade deficits, and stagnation of family income in the lower economic groups.
Growth weakened in the fourth quarter of 2000; growth for the year 2001 almost
certainly will be substantially lower than the strong 5% of 2000. The outlook
for 2001 is further clouded by the continued economic problems of Japan, Russia,
Indonesia, Brazil, and many other countries. |
| GDP: |
purchasing power parity - $9.963
trillion (2000 est.) |
| GDP - real
growth rate: |
5% (2000
est.) |
| GDP - per
capita: |
purchasing power parity - $36,200 (2000
est.) |
| GDP -
composition by sector: |
agriculture: 2%
industry: 18%
services: 80%
(1999) |
| Population
below poverty line: |
12.7% (1999
est.) |
| Household
income or consumption by percentage share: |
lowest 10%: 1.8%
highest 10%: 30.5%
(1997) |
| Inflation
rate (consumer prices): |
3.4%
(2000) |
| Labor
force: |
140.9 million (includes unemployed)
(2000) |
| Labor force
- by occupation: |
managerial and professional 30.2%,
technical, sales and administrative support 29.2%, services 13.5%,
manufacturing, mining, transportation, and crafts 24.6%, farming, forestry, and
fishing 2.5% (2000)
note: figures exclude the
unemployed |
| Unemployment
rate: |
4%
(2000) |
| Budget: |
revenues: $1.828 trillion
expenditures: $1.703 trillion, including
capital expenditures of $NA (1999) |
| 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: |
5.6% (2000
est.) |
| Electricity
- production: |
3.678 trillion kWh
(1999) |
| Electricity
- production by source: |
fossil fuel: 69.64%
hydro: 8.31%
nuclear:
19.8%
other: 2.25% (1999) |
| Electricity
- consumption: |
3.45 trillion kWh
(1999) |
| Electricity
- exports: |
14 billion kWh
(1999) |
| Electricity
- imports: |
43 billion kWh
(1999) |
| Agriculture
- products: |
wheat, other grains, corn, fruits,
vegetables, cotton; beef, pork, poultry, dairy products; forest products;
fish |
| Exports: |
$776 billion (f.o.b., 2000
est.) |
| Exports -
commodities: |
capital goods, automobiles, industrial
supplies and raw materials, consumer goods, agricultural
products |
| Exports -
partners: |
Canada 23%, Mexico 14%, Japan 8%, UK
5%, Germany 4%, France, Netherlands (2000) |
| Imports: |
$1.223 trillion (f.o.b., 2000
est.) |
| Imports -
commodities: |
crude oil and refined petroleum
products, machinery, automobiles, consumer goods, industrial raw materials, food
and beverages |
| Imports -
partners: |
Canada 19%, Japan 11%, Mexico 11%,
China 8%, Germany 5%, UK, Taiwan (2000) |
| Debt -
external: |
$862 billion (1995
est.) |
| Economic aid
- donor: |
ODA, $6.9 billion
(1997) |
| Currency: |
US dollar
(USD) |
| Exchange
rates: |
British pounds per US dollar - 0.6764
(January 2001), 0.6596 (2000), 0.6180 (1999), 0.6037 (1998), 0.6106 (1997),
0.6403 (1996); Canadian dollars per US dollar - 1.5032 (January 2001), 1.4851
(2000), 1.4857 (1999), 1.4835 (1998), 1.3846 (1997), 1.3635 (1996); French
francs per US dollar - 5.65 (January 1999), 5.8995 (1998), 5.8367 (1997), 5.1155
(1996), 4.9915 (1995), 5.5520 (1994); Italian lire per US dollar - 1,668.7
(January 1999), 1,763.2 (1998), 1,703.1 (1997), 1,542.9 (1996), 1,628.9 (1995),
1,612.4 (1994); Japanese yen per US dollar - 117.10 (January 2001), 107.77
(2000), 113.91 (1999), 130.91 (1998), 120.99 (1997), 108.78 (1996); German
deutsche marks per US dollar - 1.69 (January 1999), 1.9692 (1998), 1.7341
(1997), 1.5048 (1996), 1.4331 (1995), 1.6228 (1994); euros per US dollar -
1.06594 (January 2001), 1.08540 (2000), 0.93863 (1999)
note:
financial institutions in France, Italy, and Germany and eight other European
countries started using the euro on 1 January 1999 with the euro replacing the
local currency in consenting countries for all transactions in
2002 |
| Fiscal
year: |
1 October - 30 September | Source: World Factbook |
