KnowNOW!

Global Economic Watch

Syndication

Recent Posts

Tags

View more

Other Useful Blogs

Archives

  • Personal Income, Savings Rate up in December

    The Commerce Department just released more data on personal income from December. Americans saw a nice uptick in their incomes last month, and then resisted the holiday urge to spend, saving more of their new gains. Here is a look at personal income and spending moves during the final quarter of 2011: From the Bureau of Economic Analysis release: Private wage and salary disbursements increased $29.1 billion in December, in contrast to a decrease of $1.4 billion in November. Goods-producing industries' payrolls increased $10.8 billion, in contrast to a decrease of $6.5 billion; manufacturing payrolls increased $7.4 billion, in contrast to a decrease of $6.2 billion. Services-producing industries' payrolls increased $18.3 billion, compared with an increase of $5.1 billion. Government wage and salary disbursements increased $0.4 billion in December; government wages and salaries were unchanged in November. The other big takeaway from the report is the savings rate: Personal outlays -- PCE, personal interest payments, and personal current transfer payments -- decreased $5.2 billion in December, in contrast to an increase of $8.2 billion in November. PCE decreased $2.0 billion, in contrast to an increase of $11.4 billion. Personal saving -- DPI less personal outlays -- was $460.1 billion in December, compared with $407.8 billion in November. The personal saving rate -- personal saving as a percentage of disposable income -- was 4.0 percent in December, compared with 3.5 percent in November. Read the full release here .

  • Real GDP Rose 2.8 Percent in 4th Quarter; 1.7 Percent for 2011

    Real GDP increased 2.8 percent in the fourth quarter of 2011, according to a new report from the Bureau of Economic Analysis . For the year, real GDP rose 1.7 percent. From the report: The increase in real GDP in the fourth quarter reflected positive contributions from private inventory investment, personal consumption expenditures (PCE), exports, residential fixed investment, and nonresidential fixed investment that were partly offset by negative contributions from federal government spending and state and local government spending. Imports, which are a subtraction in the calculation of GDP, increased. The acceleration in real GDP in the fourth quarter primarily reflected an upturn in private inventory investment and accelerations in PCE and in residential fixed investment that were partly offset by a deceleration in nonresidential fixed investment, a downturn in federal government spending, an acceleration in imports, and a larger decrease in state and local government spending. Here is a look at the ups and downs of real GDP over the last 4 years: Real GDP increased 3.0 percent in 2010. The BEA report lists drops in inventory investment and government spending--"the annual decline was the largest decline since 1971"--as primary reasons for the slowdown. Read the full release from the BEA here .

  • Real GDP Rose an Estimated 3.2% in 4th Quarter

    Real GDP grew at an annual rate of 3.2% in the fourth quarter of 2010, according to an advance estimate just released by the Commerce Department . And the economy grew at a rate of 2.9% in 2010 after Real GDP decreased 2.6% in 2009. According to the Bureau of Economic Analysis , personal consumption expenditures, exports, and nonresidential fixed investment were the primary drivers of the fourth quarter growth: Real personal consumption expenditures increased 4.4 percent in the fourth quarter, compared with an increase of 2.4 percent in the third. Durable goods increased 21.6 percent, compared with an increase of 7.6 percent. Nondurable goods increased 5.0 percent, compared with an increase of 2.5 percent. Services increased 1.7 percent, compared with an increase of 1.6 percent. Real nonresidential fixed investment increased 4.4 percent in the fourth quarter, compared with an increase of 10.0 percent in the third. Nonresidential structures increased 0.8 percent, in contrast to a decrease of 3.5 percent. Equipment and software increased 5.8 percent, compared with an increase of 15.4 percent. Real residential fixed investment increased 3.4 percent, in contrast to a decrease of 27.3 percent. Real exports of goods and services increased 8.5 percent in the fourth quarter, compared with an increase of 6.8 percent in the third. Real imports of goods and services decreased 13.6 percent, in contrast to an increase of 16.8 percent. Read the BEA release here .

  • Real GDP Estimates Revised Downward for 2nd Quarter

    The Commerce Department announced this morning that GDP growth during the second quarter was smaller than previously estimated. The increase in real GDP from the first quarter to the second quarter was 1.6%. Here's what the Bureau of Economic Analysis tells us were the key factors: The increase in real GDP in the second quarter primarily reflected positive contributions from nonresidential fixed investment, personal consumption expenditures, exports, federal government spending, private inventory investment, and residential fixed investment. Imports, which are a subtraction in the calculation of GDP, increased. The deceleration in real GDP in the second quarter primarily reflected a sharp acceleration in imports and a sharp deceleration in private inventory investment that were partly offset by an upturn in residential fixed investment, an acceleration in nonresidential fixed investment, an upturn in state and local government spending, and an acceleration in federal government spending. Read the BEA release here .

  • GDP Grew During 2nd Quarter, But Not By Much

    The economy grew at an annual rate of 2.4% in the second quarter, according to data released by the Commerce Department this morning. That is a slowdown from the 3.7% growth rate during the first quarter (this is a revised rate, as the Commerce Department had previously put the growth of GDP for the first quarter at 2.7%). While the growth is smaller than many expected, it does represent the fourth straight quarter that real GDP rose. Here's a look at the trend, from the Bureau of Economic Analysis : And some explanation as to what drove the growth, and what held further growth back: The increase in real GDP in the second quarter primarily reflected positive contributions from nonresidential fixed investment, exports, personal consumption expenditures, private inventory investment, federal government spending, and residential fixed investment. Imports, which are a subtraction in the calculation of GDP, increased. The deceleration in real GDP in the second quarter primarily reflected an acceleration in imports and a deceleration in private inventory investment that were partly offset by an upturn in residential fixed investment, an acceleration in nonresidential fixed investment, an upturn in state and local government spending, and an acceleration in federal government spending. Read the release here .

  • Trade Gap Climbs in November on Increased Demand for Imports

    Total U.S. imports beat out exports to a tune of $174.6 billion to $138.2 in November, according to figures released today by the Bureau of Economic Analysis . The $36.4 billion trade gap was up from $33.2 billion (revised) in October. That's the highest monthly gap since last January. Here's the two-year trend from the BEA: Read the full report here .

  • Average Annual Compensation, by US County

    The Bureau of Economic Analysis has released a new report on compensation by county. The figures are for 2008, and they show that American jobs paid, on average, $56,116 that year. That was up 2.6%. 80% of counties across the US saw average compensation per job rise. Total compensation was up 2.3%, and was outpaced by inflation, which rose 3.3%. The real value in this report is the county-by-county breakdown. Small counties--those with less than $1 billion in total compensation--saw a 3.1% rise in total compensation. Average annual compensation per job rose 3.7%. Of the 2,265 counties designated "small" by the BEA, Eureka County, NV has the highest average annual compensation at $91,585, and Petroleum County, MT has the lowest at $27, 285. 72.8% of all US counties fit the "small county" designation, and together they represent 8.3 % of total national compensation. Large counties, on the other hand, represent 5.4% of the total counties in the US, and 65.9% of total compensation. Among these counties, New York County (Manhattan) had the highest average annual compensation (and highest in the nation)--$117,509. El Paso County, TX, had an average annual compensation of $42,730. Read more from the Bureau of Economic Analysis here .

  • Income, Consumer Spending Drop in March

    The good news yesterday was that consumer spending rose in the first quarter of 2009, but today we learn that spending dropped off in March . The Commerce Department released figures on consumer spending and personal income this morning. Both are down. Take a look at the monthly change: Here are the toplines from the Bureau of Economic Analysis : Personal income declined 0.3 percent in March. Wages and salaries, the largest component of personal income, fell 0.5 percent after falling 0.4 percent in February. Proprietors’ income (mainly from partnerships and sole proprietorships) turned down. Real disposable personal income (DPI) , income adjusted for inflation and taxes, was flat in March. Taxes fell $33 billion after falling $25 billion. Tax credits from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 reduced taxes $11 billion in March. Real consumer spending , adjusted for price changes, decreased 0.2 percent in March after increasing 0.1 percent in February. Read the BEA's full report here .