Director’s Message
In this issue, we present the 2020 annual update of the National Income and Product Accounts, which incorporated newly available source data and various methodology improvements. Gross domestic product (GDP) and most major components were updated for 2015 through the first quarter of 2020, and selected income components were updated for 1999 through the first quarter of 2020. Economic growth from 2014 to 2019 was revised up slightly. Generally, the revised statistics are similar to the previously published statistics.
A separate article discusses the details of the advance estimate of GDP for the second quarter of 2020.
Elsewhere, we present two pieces covering international statistics. One highlights recent trends in inward and outward direct investment statistics that include data by country and by industry. The second piece discusses new foreign direct investment in the United States in 2019, detailing spending to acquire, establish, or expand U.S. businesses. It also looks at employment statistics for these businesses. Both are presented in a new, easy-to-read Visual Essay format.
Special Survey of Current Business centennial content this month includes a reprint of the 100th issue with an introduction by BEA staff, an influencer profile on economist and Nobel laureate Simon Kuznets, the founder of national income measurement, and a downloadable centennial-themed poster.
