Director’s Message
In this issue, we are pleased to discuss our new Outdoor Recreation Satellite Account, a collaborative effort to measure the impact of outdoor recreation on the U.S. economy. Using input from outdoor recreation economists, industry experts, and multiple government agencies, the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) can now estimate the size of the U.S. outdoor recreation economy. Prototype statistics indicate that the outdoor recreation economy represented 2.0 percent ($373.7 billion) of current-dollar gross domestic product (GDP) in 2016 and supported more than 4.2 million jobs.
In February, President Trump submitted the Budget of the United States Government for Fiscal Year 2019 to Congress. We’re pleased to follow up with an article that translates the President’s budget into a framework consistent with the national income and product accounts. These estimates can assist users of BEA statistics in understanding the effects of the budget on aggregate economic activity. The projections will also be used by BEA to develop estimates of federal government transactions for the coming year, including the federal government component of GDP.
Elsewhere, our Regional Quarterly Report discusses estimates of GDP by state and personal income by state for the third quarter of 2017. Real GDP growth averaged 3.4 percent, ranging from 5.7 percent in Delaware to 0.5 percent in South Dakota. Personal income growth averaged 2.7 percent, ranging from 4.1 percent in the state of Washington to 0.3 percent in South Dakota.
As usual, our “GDP and the Economy” article details the second estimates of the national income and product accounts for the fourth quarter of 2017.
Brian C. Moyer
Director,
Bureau of Economic Analysis
