Director’s Message
In this issue, we present the 2021 annual update of the National Income and Product Accounts, which incorporated newly available source data and various methodology improvements, most notably for estimates of housing services. Gross domestic product (GDP), gross domestic income, and their major components were updated for 1999 through the first quarter of 2021. With this update, economic growth from 2015 to 2020 was unchanged.
A separate article discusses the details of the advance estimate of GDP for the second quarter of 2021.
Elsewhere, we present two Visual Essays 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 2020, detailing spending to acquire, establish, or expand U.S. businesses. It also looks at employment statistics for these businesses.
Earlier this month, we concluded the Survey of Current Business year-long centennial celebration with a set of 10 commemorative, downloadable posters. Each poster spans a decade and highlights content the Survey reported on the U.S. economy. We also updated our centennial website to include content organized by decade.
