October 2020

Volume 100, Number 10

Director’s Message

A message from Mary Bohman, Acting Director of the Bureau of Economic Analysis.

GDP and the Economy: Third Estimates for the Second Quarter of 2020

Real GDP decreased 31.4 percent in the second quarter of 2020, reflecting negative contributions from consumer spending, exports, nonresidential fixed investment, inventory investment, residential fixed investment, and state and local government spending.

Selected NIPA tables PDF

The 2020 Annual Update of the Industry Economic Accounts: Revised Statistics for 2015–2019 and the First Quarter of 2020

The percent change in real GDP for the first quarter of 2020 was unrevised at −5.0 percent; the direction of growth in real value added was unrevised in 21 of 22 major industry groups.

Centennial Content

The Origins of the Survey of Current Business: A Window on the Evolution of Economic Policy, Research, and Statistics

Dr. Andrew D. Reamer, a research professor at the George Washington Institute of Public Policy at George Washington University and a longtime BEA Advisory Committee member, discusses the Survey's early role in economic stabilization policy and in the development of national income accounting.

The Development of Gross National Product

BEA staff introduce reprints of a 1942 article on the first estimates of gross national product and a 1947 article and supplemental report on major improvements to national income and product data.

Edward Fulton Denison: Renowned Scholar of Economic Growth Theory and National Income and Product Accounting

This top influencer profile chronicles the economist's contributions to gross national product and growth accounting.

U.S. International Services: Trade in Services in 2019 and Services Supplied Through Affiliates in 2018

In 2019, U.S. exports of services exceeded U.S. imports of services for a surplus of $287.5 billion. In 2018, services supplied to foreign markets through foreign affiliates of U.S. MNEs exceeded services supplied to the United States through U.S. affiliates of foreign MNEs.

U.S. International Transactions: Second Quarter 2020

The U.S. current-account deficit increased to $170.5 billion in the second quarter from $111.5 billion in the first quarter of 2020.

U.S. International Investment Position: Second Quarter 2020

The U.S. net international investment position was −$13.05 trillion at the end of the second quarter of 2020. At the end of the first quarter, the net investment position was −$12.16 trillion.