ECONOMY
Economy
- overview:
The US has the largest and most technologically powerful economy
in the world, with a per capita GDP of $36,300. 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,
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%. The year 2001 witnessed the end of the boom psychology
and performance, with output increasing only 0.3% and unemployment
and business failures rising substantially. The response to the
terrorist attacks of September 11 showed the remarkable resilience
of the economy. Moderate recovery is expected in 2002, with the
GDP growth rate rising to 2.5% or more. A major short-term problem
in first half 2002 was a sharp decline in the stock market, fueled
in part by the exposure of dubious accounting practices in some
major corporations. Long-term problems include inadequate investment
in economic infrastructure, rapidly rising medical and pension
costs of an aging population, sizable trade deficits, and stagnation
of family income in the lower economic groups.
GDP: purchasing power parity - $10.082 trillion (2001 est.)
GDP - real growth rate: 0.3% (2001 est.)
GDP - per capita: purchasing power parity - $36,300 (2001
est.) agriculture: 2%
industry: 18%
services: 80% (2001 est.)
Inflation rate - consumer price index: 12.7% (2001 est.)
Labor force:
total: l141.8 million (includes unemployed) (2001)
by occupation: managerial and professional 31%, technical, sales
and administrative support 28.9%, services 13.6%, manufacturing,
mining, transportation, and crafts 24.1%, farming, forestry, and
fishing 2.4% (2001)
Unemployment rate: 5% (2001)
Budget:
revenues: $1.828 trillion
expenditures: 1.703 trillion, including capital expenditures of
$NA (1999)
Industries: lleading 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: 3-3.7% (2001 est.)
Electricity - production: 3,799.944 billion kWh (2000)
fossil fuel: 70.76%
hydro: 7.19%
other: 2.21% (2000)
nuclear: 19.84%
Agriculture - products: wheat, other grains, corn, fruits,
vegetables, cotton; beef, pork, poultry, dairy products; forest
products; fish
Exports:
total value: $723 billion (f.o.b., 2001 est.)
commodities : capital goods, automobiles, industrial supplies
and raw materials, consumer goods, agricultural products
partners: Canada 22%, Western Europe 21%, Japan 11%, Mexico 8%
(1995)
Imports:
total value: $1.148 trillion (f.o.b., 2001 est.)
commodities: crude oil and refined petroleum products, machinery,
automobiles, consumer goods, industrial raw materials, food and
beverages
partners : Canada 19%, Mexico 11.5%, Japan 11.1%, China 8.9%,
Germany 5.2%, UK, Taiwan (2001)
Debt - external: $1.148 trillion (f.o.b., 2001 est.)
Economic aid:
donor : OODA, $6.9 billion (1997)
Currency: 1 United States dollar (US$) = 100 cents
Exchange rates: British pounds per US dollar - 0.6981 (January
2002), 0.6944 (2001), 0.6596 (2000), 0.6180 (1999), 0.6037 (1998),
0.6106 (1997); Canadian dollars per US dollar - 1.6003 (January
2002), 1.5488 (2001), 1.4851 (2000), 1.4857 (1999), 1.4835 (1998),
1.3846 (1997); French francs per US dollar - 5.65 (January 1999),
5.8995 (1998), 5.8367 (1997); Italian lire per US dollar - 1,668.7
(January 1999), 1,763.2 (1998), 1,703.1 (1997); Japanese yen per
US dollar - 132.66 (January 2002), 121.53 (2001), 107.77 (2000),
113.91 (1999), 130.91 (1998), 120.99 (1997); German deutsche marks
per US dollar - 1.69 (January 1999), 1.9692 (1998), 1.7341 (1997);
euros per US dollar - 1.1324 (January 2002), 1.1175 (2001), 1.08540
(2000), 0.93863 (1999)
Fiscal year: 1 October - 30 September
