The United States has a highly developed mixed economy. It is the world's largest economy by nominal GDP and second largest by purchasing power parity (PPP). As of 2024, it has the world's sixth highest nominal GDP per capita and eighth highest GDP per capita by PPP). The U.S. accounted for 26% of the global economy in 2023 in nominal terms, and about 15.5% in PPP terms. The U.S. dollar is the currency of record most used in international transactions and is the world's reserve currency, backed by a large U.S. treasuries market, its role as the reference standard for the petrodollar system, and its linked eurodollar. Several countries use it as their official currency and in others it is the de facto currency. Since the end of World War II, the economy has achieved relatively steady growth, low unemployment and inflation, and rapid advances in technology.
 New York City, the world's principal fintech and financial center and the epicenter of the world's principal metropolitan economy | |
| Currency | United States dollar (Sign: $; Code: USD)  US Dollar Index |
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Fiscal year | October 1 – September 30 |
Trade organizations | WTO, G-20, G7, OECD, USMCA, APEC and others |
Country group |
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| Statistics | |
| Population | 341,271,663 (February 1, 2025) |
| GDP |
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GDP growth |
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GDP per capita |
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GDP per capita rank |
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GDP by sector |
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GDP by component |
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Inflation (CPI) | 2.9% (2024) |
Population below poverty line |
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Gini coefficient |
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Human Development Index |
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Corruption Perceptions Index |  69 out of 100 points (2023) (rank 24th) |
Labor force |
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Labor force by occupation |
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| Unemployment |
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Average gross salary | $5,605, monthly (2023) |
Average net salary | $4,246, monthly (2023) |
Final consumption expenditure | 85.2% of GDP (2023) |
Gross capital formation | 17.7% of GDP (2023) |
Yield curve | 10-year bond 5.09% (April 2024) |
Purchasing Managers' Index |
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Main industries |
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| External | |
| Exports | $3.178 trillion (2024) |
Export goods |
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Main export partners |
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| Imports | $4.087 trillion (2024) |
Import goods |
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Main import partners |
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FDI stock |
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Current account |
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Gross external debt |  $27 trillion (2023) |
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Government debt |
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Budget balance | –6.3% of GDP (2023) |
| Revenues | $8.720 trillion 29.9% of GDP (2024) |
| Expenses | $10.945 trillion 37.5% of GDP (2024) Government spending in the United States |
| Economic aid | donor: ODA, $35.26 billion (2017) |
Credit rating |
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Foreign reserves | $250 billion (2024) |
All values, unless otherwise stated, are in US dollars. | |
The American economy is fueled by high productivity, well developed transportation infrastructure, and extensive natural resources. Americans have the sixth highest average household and employee income among OECD member states. In 2021, they had the highest median household income among OECD countries although the country also had one of the world's highest income inequalities among the developed countries. The largest U.S. trading partners are Canada, Mexico, China, Japan, Germany, South Korea, the United Kingdom, Taiwan, India, and Vietnam. The U.S. is the world's largest importer and second largest exporter. It has free trade agreements with several countries, including Canada and Mexico (through the USMCA), Australia, South Korea, Israel, and several others that are in effect or under negotiation. The U.S. has a highly flexible labor market, where the industry adheres to a hire-and-fire policy, and job security is relatively low. Among OECD nations, the U.S. has a highly efficient and strong social security system; social expenditure stood at roughly 30% of GDP.
The United States is the world's largest producer of petroleum and natural gas. In 2016, it was the world's largest trading country and second largest manufacturer, with American manufacturing making up a fifth of the global total. The U.S. not only has the largest internal market for goods, but also dominates the services trade. Total U.S. trade was $4.2 trillion in 2018. Of the world's 500 largest companies, 139 are headquartered in the U.S. The U.S. has the world's highest number of billionaires, with total wealth of $5.7 trillion. U.S. commercial banks had $22.9 trillion in assets in December 2022. U.S. global assets under management had more than $30 trillion in assets. During the Great Recession of 2008, the U.S. economy suffered a significant decline. The American Reinvestment and Recovery Act was enacted by the United States Congress, and in the ensuing years the U.S. experienced the longest economic expansion on record by July 2019.
The New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq are the world's largest stock exchanges by market capitalization and trade volume. The U.S. has the world's largest gold reserve, with over 8,000 tonnes of gold. In 2014, the U.S. economy was ranked first in international ranking on venture capital and global research and development funding. The U.S. spends around 3.46% of GDP on cutting-edge research and development across various sectors of the economy. The U.S. has produced the world's highest number of Nobel laureates in the economics field. It is also the world's fourth largest high-technology exporter. The U.S. ranks second in the world by number of patent applications.Consumer spending comprised 68% of the U.S. economy in 2022, while its labor share of income was 44% in 2021. The U.S. has the world's largest consumer market. The nation's labor market has attracted immigrants from all over the world and its net migration rate is among the highest in the world. The U.S. is one of the top-performing economies in studies such as the Ease of Doing Business Index, the Global Competitiveness Report, and others.
History
Colonial era and 18th century
The economic history of the United States began with British settlements along the Eastern seaboard in the 17th and 18th centuries. After 1700, the United States gained population rapidly, and imports as well as exports grew along with it. Africa, Asia, and most frequently Europe, contributed to the trade of the colonies. These 13 colonies gained independence from the British Empire in the late 18th century and quickly grew from colonial economies towards an economy focused on agriculture.
19th century
In 180 years, the United States grew to become a huge, integrated, and industrialized economy, which made up about a fifth of the world economy. In that process, the U.S. GDP per capita rose past that of many other countries, supplanting the British Empire at the top. The economy maintained high wages, attracting immigrants by the millions from all over the world. In the 1820s and 1830s, mass production shifted much of the economy from artisans to factories. New government regulations strengthened patents.
Early in the 19th century, more than 80 percent of Americans engaged in farming. Most of the manufacturing centered on the first stages of the transformation of raw materials, with lumber and sawmills, textiles, and boots and shoes leading the way. The rich natural resources contributed to the rapid economic expansion of the nineteenth century. Ample land allowed the number of farmers to keep growing; but activity in manufacturing, services, transportation, and other sectors grew much faster, so that by 1860 the population was only about 50 percent rural, down from over 80 percent.
In the 19th century, recessions frequently coincided with financial crises. The Panic of 1837 was followed by a five-year depression, marked by bank failures and unprecedented unemployment. Because of the great changes in the economy over the centuries, it is difficult to compare the severity of modern recessions to that of early recessions. Recessions after World War II appear to have been less severe than earlier recessions, but the reasons for this are unclear.
20th century
At the beginning of the century, new innovations and improvements in existing innovations opened the door for improvements in the standard of living among American consumers. Many firms grew large by taking advantage of economies of scale and better communication to run nationwide operations. Concentration in these industries raised fears of monopolies that would drive prices higher and output lower, but many of these firms were cutting costs so fast that trends were towards lower prices and more output in these industries. Many workers shared the success of these large firms, which typically offered the highest wages in the world.
The United States has been the world's largest national economy in terms of GDP since around 1890. For many years following the Great Depression of the 1930s, when the danger of recession appeared most serious, the government strengthened the economy by spending heavily itself or cutting taxes so that consumers would spend more and by fostering rapid growth in the money supply, which also encouraged more spending. Ideas about the best tools for stabilizing the economy changed substantially between the 1930s and the 1980s. From the New Deal era that began in 1933 to the Great Society initiatives of the 1960s, national policymakers relied principally on fiscal policy to influence the economy.
During the world wars of the twentieth century, the United States fared better than the rest of the combatants because none of the First World War and relatively little of the Second World War were fought on American territory (and none on the then-48 states). Yet, even in the United States, the wars meant sacrifice. During the peak of Second World War activity, nearly 40 percent of U.S. GDP was devoted to war production. Decisions about large swaths of the economy were largely made for military purposes, and nearly all relevant inputs were allocated to the war effort. Many goods were rationed, prices and wages controlled, and many durable consumer goods were no longer produced. Large segments of the workforce were inducted into the military and paid half their wages; roughly half of those were sent into harm's way.
The approach, advanced by British economist John Maynard Keynes, gave elected officials a leading role in directing the economy since spending and taxes are controlled by the U.S. president and Congress. The "Baby Boom" saw a dramatic increase in fertility in the period 1942–1957; it was caused by delayed marriages and childbearing during the depression years, a surge in prosperity, a demand for suburban single-family homes (as opposed to inner city apartments), and new optimism about the future. The boom peaked around 1957 and then began to fade. A period of high inflation, interest rates, and unemployment after 1973 weakened confidence in fiscal policy as a tool for regulating the overall pace of economic activity.
The U.S. economy grew by an average of 3.8% from 1946 to 1973, while real median household income surged by 74% (or 2.1% a year).
Since the 1970s, several emerging countries have begun to close the economic gap with the United States. In most cases, this has been due to moving the manufacture of goods formerly made in the U.S. to countries where they could be made for sufficiently less money to cover the cost of shipping plus a higher profit. In other cases, some countries have gradually learned to produce the same products and services that previously only the U.S. and a few other countries could produce. Real income growth in the U.S. has slowed. In the 1970s and 1980s, it was popular in the U.S. to believe that Japan's economy would surpass that of the U.S., but this did not occur.
21st century
The United States economy experienced a recession in 2001 with an unusually slow jobs recovery, with the number of jobs not regaining the February 2001 level until January 2005. This "jobless recovery" overlapped with the building of a housing bubble and arguably a wider debt bubble, as the ratio of household debt to GDP rose from a record level of 70% in Q1 2001 to 99% in Q1 2008. Homeowners were borrowing against their bubble-priced homes to fuel consumption, driving up their debt levels while providing an unsustainable boost to GDP. When housing prices began falling in 2006, the value of securities backed by mortgages fell dramatically, causing the equivalent of a bank run in the essentially unregulated non-depository banking system, which had outgrown the traditional, regulated depository banking system. Many mortgage companies and other non-depository banks (e.g., investment banks) faced a worsening crisis in 2007–2008, with the banking crisis peaking in September 2008, with the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers and bailouts of several other financial institutions.
The Bush administration (2001–2009) and Obama administrations (2009–2017) applied banking bailout programs and Keynesian stimulus via high government deficits, while the Federal Reserve maintained near-zero interest rates. These measures helped the economy recover, as households paid down debts in 2009–2012, the only years since 1947 where this occurred, presenting a significant barrier to recovery. Real GDP regained its pre-crisis (late 2007) peak by 2011, household net worth by Q2 2012, non-farm payroll jobs by May 2014, and the unemployment rate by September 2015. Each of these variables continued into post-recession record territory following those dates, with the U.S. recovery becoming the second longest on record in April 2018.
A significant recession, as defined lost economic output, occurred during the financial crisis of 2007–2008, when GDP fell by 5.0% from the spring of 2008 to the spring of 2009. Other significant recessions took place in 1957–1958, when GDP fell 3.7% following the 1973 oil crisis, with a 3.1% fall from late 1973 to early 1975, and in the 1981–1982 recession, when GDP dropped by 2.9%. Recent, mild recessions have included the 1990–1991 downturn, when output fell by 1.3%, and the 2001 recession, in which GDP slid by 0.3%; the 2001 downturn lasted just eight months. The most vigorous, sustained periods of growth, on the other hand, took place from early 1961 to mid-1969, with an expansion of 53% (5.1% a year), from mid-1991 to late 2000, at 43% (3.8% a year), and from late 1982 to mid-1990, at 37% (4% a year).
Debt held by the public, a measure of national debt, has risen throughout the 21st century. Rising from 31% in 2000 to 52% in 2009, and reaching 77% of GDP in 2017, the U.S. ranked 43rd highest in debt out of 207 countries.
COVID-19 pandemic
This section needs to be updated. (October 2021) |
In the first two quarters of 2020 amid Donald Trump's presidency, the U.S. economy suffered major setbacks beginning in March 2020, due to the novel coronavirus and having to "shut-down" major sectors of the American economy. As of March 2020, US exports of automobiles and industrial machines had plummeted as a result of the worldwide pandemic. Social distancing measures which took effect in March 2020, and which negatively impacted the demand for goods and services, resulted in the US GDP declining at a 4.8% annualized rate in the first quarter, the steepest pace of contraction in output since the fourth quarter of 2008. US retails sales dropped a record 8.7% in March alone. The US airline industry had also been hit hard, seeing a sharp decline in its revenues. The COVID-19 recession has been widely described as the most severe global economic downturn since the Great Depression and "far worse" than the Great Recession.
In May 2020, CNN gave an analysis based on unemployment data that the US economy was perhaps the worst that it had been since the 1930s. By May 8, the US had reached a record 14.7 percent unemployment, with 20.5 million jobs lost in April. The Chairman of the US Federal Reserve, Jerome Powell, warned that it may take "an extended time" before the US economy fully recovers from weak economic growth, due to the pandemic, and that in the foreseeable future the US can expect "low productivity growth and stagnant incomes". By May 31, 2020, more than forty million Americans had filed for unemployment benefits.
By June 2020, the slump in US continental flights due to the coronavirus pandemic had resulted in the US government temporarily halting service of fifteen US airlines to 75 domestic airports.The New York Times reported on June 10, 2020, that "the United States budget deficit grew to a record $1.88 trillion for the first eight months of this fiscal year."
The US economy recovered from the COVID-19 pandemic in 2021, growing by 5.7%, which was its best performance since Ronald Reagan's presidency (1981–1989).
2021–2022 marked a historical inflation surge in the United States, with the Consumer Price Index inflation rate hitting 9.1% higher in June 2022 than June 2021, constituting a 41-year high inflation rate with critics blaming the Federal Reserve among other factors. Inflation rate reached 4.9% in April 2023, which was roughly 3% above the Federal Reserve's 2% target rate.
Data
The following table shows the main economic indicators in 1980–2023 (with IMF staff estimates in 2024–2029). Inflation below 5% is in green.
| Year | GDP (in bn. US$PPP) | GDP per capita (in US$ PPP) | GDP (in bn. US$nominal) | GDP per capita (in US$ nominal) | GDP growth (real) | Inflation rate (in Percent) | Unemployment (in Percent) | Government debt (in % of GDP) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1980 | 2,857.3 | 12,552.9 | 2,857.3 | 12,552.9 |  -0.3% | 13.5% | 7.2% | n/a |
| 1981 |  3,207.0 | 13,948.7 | 3,207.0 | 13,948.7 | 2.5% | 10.4% | 7.6% | n/a |
| 1982 | 3,343.8 | 14,405.0 | 3,343.8 | 14,405.0 | -1.8% | 6.2% | 9.7% | n/a |
| 1983 | 3,634.0 | 15,513.7 | 3,634.0 | 15,513.7 | 4.6% | 3.2% |  9.6% | n/a |
| 1984 | 4,037.7 | 17,086.4 | 4,037.7 | 17,086.4 | 7.2% | 4.4% | 7.5% | n/a |
| 1985 | 4,339.0 | 18,199.3 | 4,339.0 | 18,199.3 | 4.2% | 3.5% | 7.2% | n/a |
| 1986 | 4,579.6 | 19,034.8 | 4,579.6 | 19,034.8 | 3.5% | 1.9% | 7.0% | n/a |
| 1987 | 4,855.3 | 20,001.0 | 4,855.3 | 20,001.0 | 3.5% | 3.6% | 6.2% | n/a |
| 1988 | 5,236.4 | 21,376.0 | 5,236.4 | 21,376.0 | 4.2% | 4.1% | 5.5% | n/a |
| 1989 | 5,641.6 | 22,814.1 | 5,641.6 | 22,814.1 | 3.7% | 4.8% | 5.3% | n/a |
| 1990 | 5,963.1 | 23,848.0 | 5,963.1 | 23,848.0 | 1.9% | 5.4% | 5.6% | n/a |
| 1991 | 6,158.1 | 24,302.8 | 6,158.1 | 24,302.8 | -0.1% | 4.2% | 6.9% | n/a |
| 1992 | 6,520.3 | 25,392.9 | 6,520.3 | 25,392.9 | 3.5% | 3.0% | 7.5% | n/a |
| 1993 | 6,858.6 | 26,364.2 | 6,858.6 | 26,364.2 | 2.8% | 3.0% | 6.9% | n/a |
| 1994 | 7,287.3 | 27,674.0 | 7,287.3 | 27,674.0 | 4.0% | 2.6% | 6.1% | n/a |
| 1995 | 7,639.8 | 28,671.5 | 7,639.8 | 28,671.5 | 2.7% | 2.8% | 5.6% | n/a |
| 1996 | 8,073.1 | 29,947.0 | 8,073.1 | 29,947.0 | 3.8% | 2.9% | 5.4% | n/a |
| 1997 | 8,577.6 | 31,440.1 | 8,577.6 | 31,440.1 | 4.4% | 2.3% | 4.9% | n/a |
| 1998 | 9,062.8 | 32,833.7 | 9,062.8 | 32,833.7 | 4.5% | 1.5% | 4.5% | n/a |
| 1999 | 9,631.2 | 34,496.2 | 9,631.2 | 34,496.2 | 4.8% | 2.2% | 4.2% | n/a |
| 2000 | 10,251.0 | 36,312.8 | 10,251.0 | 36,312.8 | 4.1% | 3.4% | 4.0% | n/a |
| 2001 | 10,581.9 | 37,101.5 | 10,581.9 | 37,101.5 | 1.0% | 2.8% | 4.7% | 53.1% |
| 2002 | 10,929.1 | 37,945.8 | 10,929.1 | 37,945.8 | 1.7% | 1.6% | 5.8% | 55.5% |
| 2003 | 11,456.5 | 39,405.4 | 11,456.5 | 39,405.4 | 2.8% | 2.3% | 6.0% | 58.6% |
| 2004 | 12,217.2 | 41,641.6 | 12,217.2 | 41,641.6 | 3.9% | 2.7% | 5.5% | 66.2% |
| 2005 | 13,039.2 | 44,034.3 | 13,039.2 | 44,034.3 | 3.5% | 3.4% | 5.1% | 65.5% |
| 2006 | 13,815.6 | 46,216.9 | 13,815.6 | 46,216.9 | 2.8% | 3.2% | 4.6% | 64.2% |
| 2007 | 14,474.3 | 47,943.4 | 14,474.3 | 47,943.4 | 2.0% | 2.9% |  4.6% | 64.6% |
| 2008 | 14,769.9 | 48,470.6 | 14,769.9 | 48,470.6 | 0.1% | 3.8% | 5.8% | 73.5% |
| 2009 | 14,478.1 | 47,102.4 | 14,478.1 | 47,102.4 | -2.6% | -0.3% | 9.3% | 86.7% |
| 2010 | 15,049.0 | 48,586.3 | 15,049.0 | 48,586.3 | 2.7% | 1.6% | 9.6% | 95.2% |
| 2011 | 15,599.7 | 50,008.1 | 15,599.7 | 50,008.1 | 1.6% | 3.1% | 8.9% | 99.5% |
| 2012 | 16,254.0 | 51,736.7 | 16,254.0 | 51,736.7 | 2.3% | 2.1% | 8.1% | 103.1% |
| 2013 | 16,880.6 | 53,363.9 | 16,880.6 | 53,363.9 | 2.1% | 1.5% | 7.4% | 104.3% |
| 2014 | 17,608.1 | 55,263.8 | 17,608.1 | 55,263.8 | 2.5% | 1.6% | 6.1% | 104.2% |
| 2015 | 18,295.0 | 57,006.9 | 18,295.0 | 57,006.9 | 2.9% | 0.1% | 5.2% | 104.6% |
| 2016 | 18,804.9 | 58,179.6 | 18,804.9 | 58,179.6 | 1.8% | 1.3% | 4.9% | 106.5% |
| 2017 | 19,612.1 | 60,292.9 | 19,612.1 | 60,292.9 | 2.5% | 2.1% | 4.4% | 105.5% |
| 2018 | 20,656.5 | 63,165.2 | 20,656.5 | 63,165.2 | 3.0% | 2.4% | 3.9% | 106.8% |
| 2019 | 21,539.9 | 65,561.3 | 21,539.9 | 65,561.3 | 2.6% | 1.8% | 3.7% | 108% |
| 2020 | 21,354.1 | 64,461.6 | 21,354.1 | 64,461.6 | -2.2% | 1.2% | 8.1% | 131.8% |
| 2021 | 23,681.1 | 71,257.9 | 23,681.1 | 71,257.9 | 6.1% | 4.7% | 5.4% | 124.5% |
| 2022 | 26,006.9 | 77,979.8 | 26,006.9 | 77,979.8 | 2.5% | 8.0% | 3.6% | 118.6% |
| 2023 | 27,720.7 | 82,715.1 | 27,720.7 | 82,715.1 | 2.9% | 4.1% | 3.6% | 118.7% |
| 2024 | 29,167.7 | 86,601.2 | 29,167.7 | 86,601.2 | 2.8% | 2.9% | 4.1% | 121% |
| 2025 | 30,337.1 | 89,677.8 | 30,337.1 | 89,677.8 | 2.2% | 1.9% | 4.4% | 124.1% |
| 2026 | 31,526.9 | 92,785.8 | 31,526.9 | 92,785.8 | 2.0% | 2.1% | 4.3% | 126.6% |
| 2027 | 32,786.7 | 96,070.1 | 32,786.7 | 96,070.1 | 2.1% | 2.1% | 4.2% | 128.4% |
| 2028 | 34,096.0 | 99,467.8 | 34,096.0 | 99,467.8 | 2.1% | 2.1% | 4.0% | 130.2% |
| 2029 | 35,457.9 | 102,987.0 | 35,457.9 | 102,987.0 | 2.1% | 2.1% | 4.0% | 131.7% |
GDP
Private sector workers made ~$2 trillion or about 29.6% of all money earned in Q3 2023 (before taxes)
U.S. nominal GDP was $19.5 trillion in 2017, the largest in the world. Annualized, nominal GDP reached $20.1 trillion in Q1 2018, the first time it exceeded $20 trillion. About 70% of U.S. GDP is personal consumption, with business investment 18%, government 17% (federal, state and local but excluding transfer payments such as Social Security, which is in consumption) and net exports a negative 3% due to the U.S. trade deficit. Real gross domestic product, a measure of both production and income, grew by 2.3% in 2017, vs. 1.5% in 2016 and 2.9% in 2015. Real GDP grew at a quarterly annualized rate of 2.2% in Q1 2018, 4.2% in Q2 2018, 3.4% in Q3 2018, and 2.2% in Q4 2018; the Q2 rate was the best growth rate since Q3 2014, and the overall yearly GDP growth of 2.9% in 2018 was the best performance of the economy in a decade. In 2020, the growth rate of the GDP has started to drop as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, resulting in the GDP shrinking at a quarterized annual growth rate of −5.0% in Q1 2020[citation needed] and −32.9% in Q2 2020,[citation needed] respectively.
As of 2014, China passed the U.S. as the largest economy in GDP (PPP) terms, measured at purchasing power parity conversion rates. The U.S. had the highest GDP (PPP) figures for more than a century prior to that milestone; China has more than tripled the U.S. growth rate for each of the past 40 years. As of 2017, the European Union as an aggregate had a GDP roughly 5% larger than the U.S., although the former is a political union not a country. The United States', however, remained the world's largest economy with the highest nominal GDP.
Real GDP per capita (measured in 2009 dollars) was $52,444 in 2017 and has been growing each year since 2010. It grew 3.0% per year on average in the 1960s, 2.1% in the 1970s, 2.4% in the 1980s, 2.2% in the 1990s, 0.7% in the 2000s, and 0.9% from 2010 to 2017. Reasons for slower growth since 2000 are debated by economists and may include aging demographics, slower population and growth in labor force, slower productivity growth, reduced corporate investment, greater income inequality reducing demand, lack of major innovations, and reduced labor power. The U.S. ranked 20th out of 220 countries in GDP per capita in 2017. Among the modern U.S. Presidents, Bill Clinton had the highest cumulative percent real GDP increase during his two terms, Reagan second and Obama third.
The development of the nation's GDP according to World Bank: U.S. real GDP grew by an average of 1.7% from 2000 to the first half of 2014, a rate around half the historical average up to 2000.
By economic sector
Nominal GDP sector composition
Nominal GDP sector composition, 2015 (in millions of dollars) at 2005 constant prices
| Country/Economy | Real GDP | Agri. | Indus. | Serv. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| World | 60,093,221 | 1,968,215 | 16,453,140 | 38,396,695 |
 United States | 15,160,104 | 149,023 | 3,042,332 | 11,518,980 |
Nominal GDP Sector Composition, 2016 (in millions of dollars) at current prices.
| Country/Economy | Nominal GDP | Agri. | Indus. | Serv. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| United States | 18,624,450 | 204,868.95 | 3,613,143.3 | 14,806,437.75 | |
| *Percentages from CIA World Factbook | |||||
Employment
There were approximately 160.4 million people in the U.S. labor force in 2017, the fourth largest labor force in the world behind China, India, and the European Union. The government (federal, state and local) employed 22 million in 2010. Small businesses are the nation's largest employer, representing 37% of American workers. The second-largest share of employment belongs to large businesses employing 36% of the U.S. workforce.White collar workers comprise 44% of the workforce as of 2022, up from 34% in 2000.
The nation's private sector employs 85% of working Americans. Government accounts for 14% of all U.S. workers. Over 99% of all private employing organizations in the U.S. are small businesses. The 30 million small businesses in the U.S. account for 64% of newly created jobs (those created minus those lost). Jobs in small businesses accounted for 70% of those created in the last decade.
The proportion of Americans employed by small business versus large business has remained relatively the same year by year as some small businesses become large businesses and just over half of small businesses survive for more than five years. Amongst large businesses, several of the largest companies and employers in the world are American companies. Amongst them are Walmart, which is both the largest company and the largest private sector employer in the world. Walmart employs 2.1 million people worldwide and 1.4 million in the U.S. alone.
There are nearly thirty million small businesses in the U.S.. Minorities such as Hispanics, African Americans, Asian Americans, and Native Americans (35% of the country's population), own 4.1 million of the nation's businesses. Minority-owned businesses generate almost $700 billion in revenue, and they employ almost five million workers in the U.S. Americans have the highest average employee income among OECD nations. The median household income in the U.S. as of 2008 is $52,029. About 284,000 working people in the U.S. have two full-time jobs and 7.6 million have part-time ones in addition to their full-time employments. Out of all working individuals in the U.S., 12% belong to a labor union and most union members work for the government. The decline of union membership in the U.S. over the last several decades parallels that of labor's share of the economy. The World Bank ranks the United States first in the ease of hiring and firing workers. The United States is the only advanced economy that does not legally guarantee its workers paid vacation or paid sick days, and is one of just a few countries in the world without paid family leave as a legal right, with the others being Papua New Guinea, Suriname and Liberia. In 2014 and again in 2020, the International Trade Union Confederation graded the U.S. a 4 out of 5+, its third-lowest score, on the subject of powers and rights granted to labor unions. Similarly, a 2023 study published by Oxfam found that the United States ranks among the worst among developed countries for labor protections. Some scholars, including business theorist Jeffrey Pfeffer and political scientist Daniel Kinderman, posit that contemporary employment practices in the United States relating to the increased performance pressure from management, and the hardships imposed on employees such as toxic working environments, precarity, and long hours, could be responsible for 120,000 excess deaths annually, making the workplace the fifth leading cause of death in the United States.
Unemployment
As of December 2017, the unemployment rate in the U.S. was 4.1% or 6.6 million people. The government's broader U-6 unemployment rate, which includes the part-time underemployed, was 8.1% or 8.2 million people. These figures were calculated with a civilian labor force of approximately 160.6 million people, relative to a U.S. population of approximately 327 million people.
Between 2009 and 2010, following the Great Recession, the emerging problem of jobless recoveries resulted in record levels of long-term unemployment with more than six million workers looking for work for more than six months as of January 2010. This particularly affected older workers. A year after the recession ended in June 2009, immigrants gained 656,000 jobs in the U.S., while U.S.-born workers lost more than a million jobs, due in part to an aging country (relatively more white retirees) and demographic shifts. In April 2010, the official unemployment rate was 9.9%, but the government's broader U-6 unemployment rate was 17.1%. Between February 2008 and February 2010, the number of people working part-time for economic reasons (i.e., would prefer to work full-time) increased by 4.0 million to 8.8 million, an 83% increase in part-time workers during the two-year period.
By 2013, although the unemployment rate had fallen below 8%, the record proportion of long term unemployed and continued decreasing household income remained indicative of a jobless recovery. However, the number of payroll jobs returned to its pre-recession (November 2007) level by May 2014 as the economy recovered.
After being higher in the post-war period, the U.S. unemployment rate fell below the rising eurozone unemployment rate in the mid-1980s and has remained significantly lower almost continuously since. In 1955, 55% of Americans worked in services, between 30% and 35% in industry, and between 10% and 15% in agriculture. By 1980, over 65% were employed in services, between 25% and 30% in industry, and less than 5% in agriculture.Male unemployment continued to be significantly higher than those of females (at 9.8% vs. 7.5% in 2009). The unemployment among Caucasians continues being much lower than those for African-Americans (at 8.5% vs. 15.8% also in 2009).
The youth unemployment rate was 18.5% in July 2009, the highest rate in that month since 1948. The unemployment rate of young African Americans was 28.2% in May 2013.
The unemployment rate reached an all-time high of 14.7% in April 2020 before falling back to 11.1% in June 2020. Due to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, Q2 GDP in the US fell 32.9% in 2020. The unemployment rate continued its rapid decline falling to 3.9% in 2021. It reached 3.7% in May 2023.
Employment by sector
U.S. employment, as estimated in 2012, is divided into 79.7% in the service sector, 19.2% in the manufacturing sector, and 1.1% in the agriculture sector.
Income and wealth
Income measures
Real (i.e., inflation-adjusted) median household income, a good measure of middle-class income, was $59,039 in 2016, a record level. However, it was just above the previous record set in 1998, indicating the purchasing power of middle-class family income has been stagnant or down for much of the past twenty years. During 2013, employee compensation was $8.969 trillion, while gross private investment totals $2.781 trillion.
Americans have the highest average household income among OECD nations, and in 2010 had the fourth-highest median household income, down from second-highest in 2007. According to one analysis middle-class incomes in the United States fell into a tie with those in Canada in 2010, and may have fallen behind by 2014, while several other advanced economies have closed the gap in recent years.
Income inequality
Income inequality has fluctuated considerably in the United States since measurements began around 1915, moving in an arc between peaks in the 1920s and 2000s, with a 30-year period of relatively lower inequality between 1950 and 1980.
The U.S. has the highest level of income inequality among its (post-)industrialized peers. When measured for all households, U.S. income inequality is comparable to other developed countries before taxes and transfers, but is among the highest after taxes and transfers, meaning the U.S. shifts relatively less income from higher income households to lower income households. In 2016, average market income was $15,600 for the lowest quintile and $280,300 for the highest quintile. The degree of inequality accelerated within the top quintile, with the top 1% at $1.8 million, approximately 30 times the $59,300 income of the middle quintile.
The economic and political impacts of inequality may include slower GDP growth, reduced income mobility, higher poverty rates, greater usage of household debt leading to increased risk of financial crises, and political polarization. Causes of inequality may include executive compensation increasing relative to the average worker, financialization, greater industry concentration, lower unionization rates, lower effective tax rates on higher incomes, and technology changes that reward higher educational attainment.
Measurement is debated, as inequality measures vary significantly, for example, across datasets or whether the measurement is taken based on cash compensation (market income) or after taxes and transfer payments. The Gini coefficient is a widely accepted statistic that applies comparisons across jurisdictions, with a zero indicating perfect equality and 1 indicating maximum inequality. Further, various public and private data sets measure those incomes, e.g., from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), the Internal Revenue Service, and Census. According to the Census Bureau, income inequality reached then record levels in 2018, with a Gini of 0.485, Since then the Census Bureau have given values of 0.488 in 2020 and 0.494 in 2021, per pre-tax money income.
U.S. tax and transfer policies are progressive and therefore reduce effective income inequality, as rates of tax generally increase as taxable income increases. As a group, the lowest earning workers, especially those with dependents, pay no income taxes and may actually receive a small subsidy from the federal government (from child credits and the Earned Income Tax Credit). The 2016 U.S. Gini coefficient was .59 based on market income, but was reduced to .42 after taxes and transfers, according to Congressional Budget Office (CBO) figures. The top 1% share of market income rose from 9.6% in 1979 to a peak of 20.7% in 2007, before falling to 17.5% by 2016. After taxes and transfers, these figures were 7.4%, 16.6%, and 12.5%, respectively.Household net worth and wealth inequality
The United States has a highly developed mixed economy It is the world s largest economy by nominal GDP and second largest by purchasing power parity PPP As of 2024 it has the world s sixth highest nominal GDP per capita and eighth highest GDP per capita by PPP The U S accounted for 26 of the global economy in 2023 in nominal terms and about 15 5 in PPP terms The U S dollar is the currency of record most used in international transactions and is the world s reserve currency backed by a large U S treasuries market its role as the reference standard for the petrodollar system and its linked eurodollar Several countries use it as their official currency and in others it is the de facto currency Since the end of World War II the economy has achieved relatively steady growth low unemployment and inflation and rapid advances in technology Economy of the United StatesNew York City the world s principal fintech and financial center and the epicenter of the world s principal metropolitan economyCurrencyUnited States dollar Sign Code USD US Dollar IndexFiscal yearOctober 1 September 30Trade organizationsWTO G 20 G7 OECD USMCA APEC and othersCountry groupAdvanced economy High income economy Welfare stateStatisticsPopulation341 271 663 February 1 2025 GDP 30 340 trillion nominal 2025 30 340 trillion PPP 2025 GDP rank1st nominal 2025 2nd PPP 2025 GDP growth2 5 2022 2 9 2023 2 8 2024 2 7 2025f GDP per capita 89 680 nominal 2025 89 685 PPP 2025 GDP per capita rank6th nominal 2024 9th PPP 2024 GDP by sectorAgriculture 0 9 Industry 18 9 Services 80 2 2017 est GDP by componentHousehold consumption 67 9 Government consumption 17 3 Investment in fixed capital 17 5 Investment in inventories 0 2 Exports of goods and services 11 1 Imports of goods and services 14 2023 est Inflation CPI 2 9 2024 Population below poverty line11 1 2023 36 8 million 2023 Gini coefficient39 4 medium 2023 OECD 46 7 high 2022 USCB 41 7 medium 2020 CBO Human Development Index0 927 very high 2022 20th 0 823 very high IHDI 27th 2022 Corruption Perceptions Index69 out of 100 points 2023 rank 24th Labor force168 110 083 2024 62 6 employment rate 2024 Labor force by occupationAgriculture 1 0 Industry 19 Services 80 FY 2018 Unemployment4 1 December 2024 12 4 youth unemployment December 2024 16 to 19 year olds 6 9 million unemployed December 2024 Average gross salary 5 605 monthly 2023 Average net salary 4 246 monthly 2023 Final consumption expenditure85 2 of GDP 2023 Gross capital formation17 7 of GDP 2023 Yield curve10 year bond 5 09 April 2024 Purchasing Managers Index50 3 Manufacturing Mar 2024 51 4 Services Mar 2024 Main industriesHigh technologypetroleumsteelmotor vehiclesaerospacetelecommunicationschemicalselectronicsagribusinessfood processinginformation technologyartificial intelligenceconsumer goodslumberretailhealthcarefinancial servicesminingrenewable energyquantum computingspace technologydefencebiotechnologypharmaceuticalExternalExports 3 178 trillion 2024 Export goodsAgricultural products 10 7 Fuels and mining products 9 4 Manufacturers 74 8 Others 5 1 Main export partners European Union 18 3 Canada 17 5 Mexico 16 0 China 7 3 Japan 3 8 Other countries 37 1 Imports 4 087 trillion 2024 Import goodsAgricultural products 10 5 Fuels and mining products 10 7 Manufacturers 78 4 Others 4 2 Main import partners European Union 23 6 Mexico 15 4 China 13 9 Canada 13 7 Japan 4 8 Others 28 6 FDI stockInward 367 billion 2021 Outward 403 billion 2021 Current account 948 64 billion 2024 3 25 of GDP 2024 Gross external debt 27 trillion 2023 Public financesGovernment debt 35 294 trillion 121 of GDP 2024 Budget balance 6 3 of GDP 2023 Revenues 8 720 trillion 29 9 of GDP 2024 Expenses 10 945 trillion 37 5 of GDP 2024 Government spending in the United StatesEconomic aiddonor ODA 35 26 billion 2017 Credit ratingStandard amp Poor s AA Domestic AA Foreign AAA T amp C Assessment Outlook StableMoody s Aaa Outlook StableFitch AA Outlook StableScope Ratings AA Outlook NegativeForeign reserves 250 billion 2024 All values unless otherwise stated are in US dollars The American economy is fueled by high productivity well developed transportation infrastructure and extensive natural resources Americans have the sixth highest average household and employee income among OECD member states In 2021 they had the highest median household income among OECD countries although the country also had one of the world s highest income inequalities among the developed countries The largest U S trading partners are Canada Mexico China Japan Germany South Korea the United Kingdom Taiwan India and Vietnam The U S is the world s largest importer and second largest exporter It has free trade agreements with several countries including Canada and Mexico through the USMCA Australia South Korea Israel and several others that are in effect or under negotiation The U S has a highly flexible labor market where the industry adheres to a hire and fire policy and job security is relatively low Among OECD nations the U S has a highly efficient and strong social security system social expenditure stood at roughly 30 of GDP The United States is the world s largest producer of petroleum and natural gas In 2016 it was the world s largest trading country and second largest manufacturer with American manufacturing making up a fifth of the global total The U S not only has the largest internal market for goods but also dominates the services trade Total U S trade was 4 2 trillion in 2018 Of the world s 500 largest companies 139 are headquartered in the U S The U S has the world s highest number of billionaires with total wealth of 5 7 trillion U S commercial banks had 22 9 trillion in assets in December 2022 U S global assets under management had more than 30 trillion in assets During the Great Recession of 2008 the U S economy suffered a significant decline The American Reinvestment and Recovery Act was enacted by the United States Congress and in the ensuing years the U S experienced the longest economic expansion on record by July 2019 The New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq are the world s largest stock exchanges by market capitalization and trade volume The U S has the world s largest gold reserve with over 8 000 tonnes of gold In 2014 the U S economy was ranked first in international ranking on venture capital and global research and development funding The U S spends around 3 46 of GDP on cutting edge research and development across various sectors of the economy The U S has produced the world s highest number of Nobel laureates in the economics field It is also the world s fourth largest high technology exporter The U S ranks second in the world by number of patent applications Consumer spending comprised 68 of the U S economy in 2022 while its labor share of income was 44 in 2021 The U S has the world s largest consumer market The nation s labor market has attracted immigrants from all over the world and its net migration rate is among the highest in the world The U S is one of the top performing economies in studies such as the Ease of Doing Business Index the Global Competitiveness Report and others HistoryColonial era and 18th century The economic history of the United States began with British settlements along the Eastern seaboard in the 17th and 18th centuries After 1700 the United States gained population rapidly and imports as well as exports grew along with it Africa Asia and most frequently Europe contributed to the trade of the colonies These 13 colonies gained independence from the British Empire in the late 18th century and quickly grew from colonial economies towards an economy focused on agriculture 19th century Washburn and Moen Manufacturing Company in Worcester Massachusetts 1876 In 180 years the United States grew to become a huge integrated and industrialized economy which made up about a fifth of the world economy In that process the U S GDP per capita rose past that of many other countries supplanting the British Empire at the top The economy maintained high wages attracting immigrants by the millions from all over the world In the 1820s and 1830s mass production shifted much of the economy from artisans to factories New government regulations strengthened patents Early in the 19th century more than 80 percent of Americans engaged in farming Most of the manufacturing centered on the first stages of the transformation of raw materials with lumber and sawmills textiles and boots and shoes leading the way The rich natural resources contributed to the rapid economic expansion of the nineteenth century Ample land allowed the number of farmers to keep growing but activity in manufacturing services transportation and other sectors grew much faster so that by 1860 the population was only about 50 percent rural down from over 80 percent In the 19th century recessions frequently coincided with financial crises The Panic of 1837 was followed by a five year depression marked by bank failures and unprecedented unemployment Because of the great changes in the economy over the centuries it is difficult to compare the severity of modern recessions to that of early recessions Recessions after World War II appear to have been less severe than earlier recessions but the reasons for this are unclear 20th century Oil wells in Los Angeles 1905Consolidated B 24 Liberators at the Consolidated Vultee Plant in Fort Worth Texas 1943McDonald s restaurant in Mount Pleasant Iowa 2008 At the beginning of the century new innovations and improvements in existing innovations opened the door for improvements in the standard of living among American consumers Many firms grew large by taking advantage of economies of scale and better communication to run nationwide operations Concentration in these industries raised fears of monopolies that would drive prices higher and output lower but many of these firms were cutting costs so fast that trends were towards lower prices and more output in these industries Many workers shared the success of these large firms which typically offered the highest wages in the world The United States has been the world s largest national economy in terms of GDP since around 1890 For many years following the Great Depression of the 1930s when the danger of recession appeared most serious the government strengthened the economy by spending heavily itself or cutting taxes so that consumers would spend more and by fostering rapid growth in the money supply which also encouraged more spending Ideas about the best tools for stabilizing the economy changed substantially between the 1930s and the 1980s From the New Deal era that began in 1933 to the Great Society initiatives of the 1960s national policymakers relied principally on fiscal policy to influence the economy During the world wars of the twentieth century the United States fared better than the rest of the combatants because none of the First World War and relatively little of the Second World War were fought on American territory and none on the then 48 states Yet even in the United States the wars meant sacrifice During the peak of Second World War activity nearly 40 percent of U S GDP was devoted to war production Decisions about large swaths of the economy were largely made for military purposes and nearly all relevant inputs were allocated to the war effort Many goods were rationed prices and wages controlled and many durable consumer goods were no longer produced Large segments of the workforce were inducted into the military and paid half their wages roughly half of those were sent into harm s way The approach advanced by British economist John Maynard Keynes gave elected officials a leading role in directing the economy since spending and taxes are controlled by the U S president and Congress The Baby Boom saw a dramatic increase in fertility in the period 1942 1957 it was caused by delayed marriages and childbearing during the depression years a surge in prosperity a demand for suburban single family homes as opposed to inner city apartments and new optimism about the future The boom peaked around 1957 and then began to fade A period of high inflation interest rates and unemployment after 1973 weakened confidence in fiscal policy as a tool for regulating the overall pace of economic activity The U S economy grew by an average of 3 8 from 1946 to 1973 while real median household income surged by 74 or 2 1 a year Since the 1970s several emerging countries have begun to close the economic gap with the United States In most cases this has been due to moving the manufacture of goods formerly made in the U S to countries where they could be made for sufficiently less money to cover the cost of shipping plus a higher profit In other cases some countries have gradually learned to produce the same products and services that previously only the U S and a few other countries could produce Real income growth in the U S has slowed In the 1970s and 1980s it was popular in the U S to believe that Japan s economy would surpass that of the U S but this did not occur 21st century President Donald Trump with automobile industry leaders 2017 The United States economy experienced a recession in 2001 with an unusually slow jobs recovery with the number of jobs not regaining the February 2001 level until January 2005 This jobless recovery overlapped with the building of a housing bubble and arguably a wider debt bubble as the ratio of household debt to GDP rose from a record level of 70 in Q1 2001 to 99 in Q1 2008 Homeowners were borrowing against their bubble priced homes to fuel consumption driving up their debt levels while providing an unsustainable boost to GDP When housing prices began falling in 2006 the value of securities backed by mortgages fell dramatically causing the equivalent of a bank run in the essentially unregulated non depository banking system which had outgrown the traditional regulated depository banking system Many mortgage companies and other non depository banks e g investment banks faced a worsening crisis in 2007 2008 with the banking crisis peaking in September 2008 with the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers and bailouts of several other financial institutions The Bush administration 2001 2009 and Obama administrations 2009 2017 applied banking bailout programs and Keynesian stimulus via high government deficits while the Federal Reserve maintained near zero interest rates These measures helped the economy recover as households paid down debts in 2009 2012 the only years since 1947 where this occurred presenting a significant barrier to recovery Real GDP regained its pre crisis late 2007 peak by 2011 household net worth by Q2 2012 non farm payroll jobs by May 2014 and the unemployment rate by September 2015 Each of these variables continued into post recession record territory following those dates with the U S recovery becoming the second longest on record in April 2018 A significant recession as defined lost economic output occurred during the financial crisis of 2007 2008 when GDP fell by 5 0 from the spring of 2008 to the spring of 2009 Other significant recessions took place in 1957 1958 when GDP fell 3 7 following the 1973 oil crisis with a 3 1 fall from late 1973 to early 1975 and in the 1981 1982 recession when GDP dropped by 2 9 Recent mild recessions have included the 1990 1991 downturn when output fell by 1 3 and the 2001 recession in which GDP slid by 0 3 the 2001 downturn lasted just eight months The most vigorous sustained periods of growth on the other hand took place from early 1961 to mid 1969 with an expansion of 53 5 1 a year from mid 1991 to late 2000 at 43 3 8 a year and from late 1982 to mid 1990 at 37 4 a year Debt held by the public a measure of national debt has risen throughout the 21st century Rising from 31 in 2000 to 52 in 2009 and reaching 77 of GDP in 2017 the U S ranked 43rd highest in debt out of 207 countries COVID 19 pandemic This section needs to be updated Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information October 2021 In the first two quarters of 2020 amid Donald Trump s presidency the U S economy suffered major setbacks beginning in March 2020 due to the novel coronavirus and having to shut down major sectors of the American economy As of March 2020 US exports of automobiles and industrial machines had plummeted as a result of the worldwide pandemic Social distancing measures which took effect in March 2020 and which negatively impacted the demand for goods and services resulted in the US GDP declining at a 4 8 annualized rate in the first quarter the steepest pace of contraction in output since the fourth quarter of 2008 US retails sales dropped a record 8 7 in March alone The US airline industry had also been hit hard seeing a sharp decline in its revenues The COVID 19 recession has been widely described as the most severe global economic downturn since the Great Depression and far worse than the Great Recession Midtown Manhattan the world s largest central business district In May 2020 CNN gave an analysis based on unemployment data that the US economy was perhaps the worst that it had been since the 1930s By May 8 the US had reached a record 14 7 percent unemployment with 20 5 million jobs lost in April The Chairman of the US Federal Reserve Jerome Powell warned that it may take an extended time before the US economy fully recovers from weak economic growth due to the pandemic and that in the foreseeable future the US can expect low productivity growth and stagnant incomes By May 31 2020 more than forty million Americans had filed for unemployment benefits By June 2020 the slump in US continental flights due to the coronavirus pandemic had resulted in the US government temporarily halting service of fifteen US airlines to 75 domestic airports The New York Times reported on June 10 2020 that the United States budget deficit grew to a record 1 88 trillion for the first eight months of this fiscal year The US economy recovered from the COVID 19 pandemic in 2021 growing by 5 7 which was its best performance since Ronald Reagan s presidency 1981 1989 2021 2022 marked a historical inflation surge in the United States with the Consumer Price Index inflation rate hitting 9 1 higher in June 2022 than June 2021 constituting a 41 year high inflation rate with critics blaming the Federal Reserve among other factors Inflation rate reached 4 9 in April 2023 which was roughly 3 above the Federal Reserve s 2 target rate DataThe following table shows the main economic indicators in 1980 2023 with IMF staff estimates in 2024 2029 Inflation below 5 is in green Year GDP in bn US PPP GDP per capita in US PPP GDP in bn US nominal GDP per capita in US nominal GDP growth real Inflation rate in Percent Unemployment in Percent Government debt in of GDP 1980 2 857 3 12 552 9 2 857 3 12 552 9 0 3 13 5 7 2 n a1981 3 207 0 13 948 7 3 207 0 13 948 7 2 5 10 4 7 6 n a1982 3 343 8 14 405 0 3 343 8 14 405 0 1 8 6 2 9 7 n a1983 3 634 0 15 513 7 3 634 0 15 513 7 4 6 3 2 9 6 n a1984 4 037 7 17 086 4 4 037 7 17 086 4 7 2 4 4 7 5 n a1985 4 339 0 18 199 3 4 339 0 18 199 3 4 2 3 5 7 2 n a1986 4 579 6 19 034 8 4 579 6 19 034 8 3 5 1 9 7 0 n a1987 4 855 3 20 001 0 4 855 3 20 001 0 3 5 3 6 6 2 n a1988 5 236 4 21 376 0 5 236 4 21 376 0 4 2 4 1 5 5 n a1989 5 641 6 22 814 1 5 641 6 22 814 1 3 7 4 8 5 3 n a1990 5 963 1 23 848 0 5 963 1 23 848 0 1 9 5 4 5 6 n a1991 6 158 1 24 302 8 6 158 1 24 302 8 0 1 4 2 6 9 n a1992 6 520 3 25 392 9 6 520 3 25 392 9 3 5 3 0 7 5 n a1993 6 858 6 26 364 2 6 858 6 26 364 2 2 8 3 0 6 9 n a1994 7 287 3 27 674 0 7 287 3 27 674 0 4 0 2 6 6 1 n a1995 7 639 8 28 671 5 7 639 8 28 671 5 2 7 2 8 5 6 n a1996 8 073 1 29 947 0 8 073 1 29 947 0 3 8 2 9 5 4 n a1997 8 577 6 31 440 1 8 577 6 31 440 1 4 4 2 3 4 9 n a1998 9 062 8 32 833 7 9 062 8 32 833 7 4 5 1 5 4 5 n a1999 9 631 2 34 496 2 9 631 2 34 496 2 4 8 2 2 4 2 n a2000 10 251 0 36 312 8 10 251 0 36 312 8 4 1 3 4 4 0 n a2001 10 581 9 37 101 5 10 581 9 37 101 5 1 0 2 8 4 7 53 1 2002 10 929 1 37 945 8 10 929 1 37 945 8 1 7 1 6 5 8 55 5 2003 11 456 5 39 405 4 11 456 5 39 405 4 2 8 2 3 6 0 58 6 2004 12 217 2 41 641 6 12 217 2 41 641 6 3 9 2 7 5 5 66 2 2005 13 039 2 44 034 3 13 039 2 44 034 3 3 5 3 4 5 1 65 5 2006 13 815 6 46 216 9 13 815 6 46 216 9 2 8 3 2 4 6 64 2 2007 14 474 3 47 943 4 14 474 3 47 943 4 2 0 2 9 4 6 64 6 2008 14 769 9 48 470 6 14 769 9 48 470 6 0 1 3 8 5 8 73 5 2009 14 478 1 47 102 4 14 478 1 47 102 4 2 6 0 3 9 3 86 7 2010 15 049 0 48 586 3 15 049 0 48 586 3 2 7 1 6 9 6 95 2 2011 15 599 7 50 008 1 15 599 7 50 008 1 1 6 3 1 8 9 99 5 2012 16 254 0 51 736 7 16 254 0 51 736 7 2 3 2 1 8 1 103 1 2013 16 880 6 53 363 9 16 880 6 53 363 9 2 1 1 5 7 4 104 3 2014 17 608 1 55 263 8 17 608 1 55 263 8 2 5 1 6 6 1 104 2 2015 18 295 0 57 006 9 18 295 0 57 006 9 2 9 0 1 5 2 104 6 2016 18 804 9 58 179 6 18 804 9 58 179 6 1 8 1 3 4 9 106 5 2017 19 612 1 60 292 9 19 612 1 60 292 9 2 5 2 1 4 4 105 5 2018 20 656 5 63 165 2 20 656 5 63 165 2 3 0 2 4 3 9 106 8 2019 21 539 9 65 561 3 21 539 9 65 561 3 2 6 1 8 3 7 108 2020 21 354 1 64 461 6 21 354 1 64 461 6 2 2 1 2 8 1 131 8 2021 23 681 1 71 257 9 23 681 1 71 257 9 6 1 4 7 5 4 124 5 2022 26 006 9 77 979 8 26 006 9 77 979 8 2 5 8 0 3 6 118 6 2023 27 720 7 82 715 1 27 720 7 82 715 1 2 9 4 1 3 6 118 7 2024 29 167 7 86 601 2 29 167 7 86 601 2 2 8 2 9 4 1 121 2025 30 337 1 89 677 8 30 337 1 89 677 8 2 2 1 9 4 4 124 1 2026 31 526 9 92 785 8 31 526 9 92 785 8 2 0 2 1 4 3 126 6 2027 32 786 7 96 070 1 32 786 7 96 070 1 2 1 2 1 4 2 128 4 2028 34 096 0 99 467 8 34 096 0 99 467 8 2 1 2 1 4 0 130 2 2029 35 457 9 102 987 0 35 457 9 102 987 0 2 1 2 1 4 0 131 7 Inflation Deflation M2 money supply increases Year YearGDPUnited States real quarterly GDP annualized U S cumulative real inflation adjusted GDP growth by US president from Reagan to Obama Private sector workers earnings compared to GDP Private sector workers made 2 trillion or about 29 6 of all money earned in Q3 2023 before taxes Quarterly GDP not Annualized Private Sector Workers Total Earnings U S nominal GDP was 19 5 trillion in 2017 the largest in the world Annualized nominal GDP reached 20 1 trillion in Q1 2018 the first time it exceeded 20 trillion About 70 of U S GDP is personal consumption with business investment 18 government 17 federal state and local but excluding transfer payments such as Social Security which is in consumption and net exports a negative 3 due to the U S trade deficit Real gross domestic product a measure of both production and income grew by 2 3 in 2017 vs 1 5 in 2016 and 2 9 in 2015 Real GDP grew at a quarterly annualized rate of 2 2 in Q1 2018 4 2 in Q2 2018 3 4 in Q3 2018 and 2 2 in Q4 2018 the Q2 rate was the best growth rate since Q3 2014 and the overall yearly GDP growth of 2 9 in 2018 was the best performance of the economy in a decade In 2020 the growth rate of the GDP has started to drop as a result of the COVID 19 pandemic resulting in the GDP shrinking at a quarterized annual growth rate of 5 0 in Q1 2020 citation needed and 32 9 in Q2 2020 citation needed respectively As of 2014 China passed the U S as the largest economy in GDP PPP terms measured at purchasing power parity conversion rates The U S had the highest GDP PPP figures for more than a century prior to that milestone China has more than tripled the U S growth rate for each of the past 40 years As of 2017 the European Union as an aggregate had a GDP roughly 5 larger than the U S although the former is a political union not a country The United States however remained the world s largest economy with the highest nominal GDP Real GDP per capita measured in 2009 dollars was 52 444 in 2017 and has been growing each year since 2010 It grew 3 0 per year on average in the 1960s 2 1 in the 1970s 2 4 in the 1980s 2 2 in the 1990s 0 7 in the 2000s and 0 9 from 2010 to 2017 Reasons for slower growth since 2000 are debated by economists and may include aging demographics slower population and growth in labor force slower productivity growth reduced corporate investment greater income inequality reducing demand lack of major innovations and reduced labor power The U S ranked 20th out of 220 countries in GDP per capita in 2017 Among the modern U S Presidents Bill Clinton had the highest cumulative percent real GDP increase during his two terms Reagan second and Obama third The development of the nation s GDP according to World Bank U S real GDP grew by an average of 1 7 from 2000 to the first half of 2014 a rate around half the historical average up to 2000 Panorama of Midtown ManhattanBy economic sectorNominal GDP sector composition Number of businesses by type US Census Bureau 2019 Nominal GDP sector composition 2015 in millions of dollars at 2005 constant prices Country Economy Real GDP Agri Indus Serv World 60 093 221 1 968 215 16 453 140 38 396 695 United States 15 160 104 149 023 3 042 332 11 518 980 Nominal GDP Sector Composition 2016 in millions of dollars at current prices Country Economy Nominal GDP Agri Indus Serv United States 18 624 450 204 868 95 3 613 143 3 14 806 437 75 Percentages from CIA World FactbookEmploymentJOLTS report Total unemployed people Total job openings Total quitsJob growth by US president measured as cumulative percentage change from month after inauguration to end of termPanel chart illustrates nine key economic variables measured annually in 2014 2017 The years 2014 2016 were during President Obama s second term while 2017 was during President Trump s term Refer to citations on detail page There were approximately 160 4 million people in the U S labor force in 2017 the fourth largest labor force in the world behind China India and the European Union The government federal state and local employed 22 million in 2010 Small businesses are the nation s largest employer representing 37 of American workers The second largest share of employment belongs to large businesses employing 36 of the U S workforce White collar workers comprise 44 of the workforce as of 2022 up from 34 in 2000 The nation s private sector employs 85 of working Americans Government accounts for 14 of all U S workers Over 99 of all private employing organizations in the U S are small businesses The 30 million small businesses in the U S account for 64 of newly created jobs those created minus those lost Jobs in small businesses accounted for 70 of those created in the last decade The proportion of Americans employed by small business versus large business has remained relatively the same year by year as some small businesses become large businesses and just over half of small businesses survive for more than five years Amongst large businesses several of the largest companies and employers in the world are American companies Amongst them are Walmart which is both the largest company and the largest private sector employer in the world Walmart employs 2 1 million people worldwide and 1 4 million in the U S alone US Census Bureau number of employees per business There are nearly thirty million small businesses in the U S Minorities such as Hispanics African Americans Asian Americans and Native Americans 35 of the country s population own 4 1 million of the nation s businesses Minority owned businesses generate almost 700 billion in revenue and they employ almost five million workers in the U S Americans have the highest average employee income among OECD nations The median household income in the U S as of 2008 is 52 029 About 284 000 working people in the U S have two full time jobs and 7 6 million have part time ones in addition to their full time employments Out of all working individuals in the U S 12 belong to a labor union and most union members work for the government The decline of union membership in the U S over the last several decades parallels that of labor s share of the economy The World Bank ranks the United States first in the ease of hiring and firing workers The United States is the only advanced economy that does not legally guarantee its workers paid vacation or paid sick days and is one of just a few countries in the world without paid family leave as a legal right with the others being Papua New Guinea Suriname and Liberia In 2014 and again in 2020 the International Trade Union Confederation graded the U S a 4 out of 5 its third lowest score on the subject of powers and rights granted to labor unions Similarly a 2023 study published by Oxfam found that the United States ranks among the worst among developed countries for labor protections Some scholars including business theorist Jeffrey Pfeffer and political scientist Daniel Kinderman posit that contemporary employment practices in the United States relating to the increased performance pressure from management and the hardships imposed on employees such as toxic working environments precarity and long hours could be responsible for 120 000 excess deaths annually making the workplace the fifth leading cause of death in the United States Unemployment U1 U6 unemployment rate As of December 2017 the unemployment rate in the U S was 4 1 or 6 6 million people The government s broader U 6 unemployment rate which includes the part time underemployed was 8 1 or 8 2 million people These figures were calculated with a civilian labor force of approximately 160 6 million people relative to a U S population of approximately 327 million people Between 2009 and 2010 following the Great Recession the emerging problem of jobless recoveries resulted in record levels of long term unemployment with more than six million workers looking for work for more than six months as of January 2010 This particularly affected older workers A year after the recession ended in June 2009 immigrants gained 656 000 jobs in the U S while U S born workers lost more than a million jobs due in part to an aging country relatively more white retirees and demographic shifts In April 2010 the official unemployment rate was 9 9 but the government s broader U 6 unemployment rate was 17 1 Between February 2008 and February 2010 the number of people working part time for economic reasons i e would prefer to work full time increased by 4 0 million to 8 8 million an 83 increase in part time workers during the two year period By 2013 although the unemployment rate had fallen below 8 the record proportion of long term unemployed and continued decreasing household income remained indicative of a jobless recovery However the number of payroll jobs returned to its pre recession November 2007 level by May 2014 as the economy recovered After being higher in the post war period the U S unemployment rate fell below the rising eurozone unemployment rate in the mid 1980s and has remained significantly lower almost continuously since In 1955 55 of Americans worked in services between 30 and 35 in industry and between 10 and 15 in agriculture By 1980 over 65 were employed in services between 25 and 30 in industry and less than 5 in agriculture Male unemployment continued to be significantly higher than those of females at 9 8 vs 7 5 in 2009 The unemployment among Caucasians continues being much lower than those for African Americans at 8 5 vs 15 8 also in 2009 The youth unemployment rate was 18 5 in July 2009 the highest rate in that month since 1948 The unemployment rate of young African Americans was 28 2 in May 2013 The unemployment rate reached an all time high of 14 7 in April 2020 before falling back to 11 1 in June 2020 Due to the effects of the COVID 19 pandemic Q2 GDP in the US fell 32 9 in 2020 The unemployment rate continued its rapid decline falling to 3 9 in 2021 It reached 3 7 in May 2023 Employment by sector U S employment as estimated in 2012 is divided into 79 7 in the service sector 19 2 in the manufacturing sector and 1 1 in the agriculture sector Income and wealthMedian personal income after taxes State income tax Payroll tax employee side Federal income tax Median income after tax Payroll tax employer side U S real median household income 1984 2021 U S family pre tax income and net worth distribution for 2013 and 2016 from the Federal Reserve Survey of Consumer FinancesIncome measures Real i e inflation adjusted median household income a good measure of middle class income was 59 039 in 2016 a record level However it was just above the previous record set in 1998 indicating the purchasing power of middle class family income has been stagnant or down for much of the past twenty years During 2013 employee compensation was 8 969 trillion while gross private investment totals 2 781 trillion Americans have the highest average household income among OECD nations and in 2010 had the fourth highest median household income down from second highest in 2007 According to one analysis middle class incomes in the United States fell into a tie with those in Canada in 2010 and may have fallen behind by 2014 while several other advanced economies have closed the gap in recent years Income inequality This section is an excerpt from Income inequality in the United States edit Income before green and after pink taxes and transfer payments for different income groups starting with the lowest quintile Income inequality has fluctuated considerably in the United States since measurements began around 1915 moving in an arc between peaks in the 1920s and 2000s with a 30 year period of relatively lower inequality between 1950 and 1980 The U S has the highest level of income inequality among its post industrialized peers When measured for all households U S income inequality is comparable to other developed countries before taxes and transfers but is among the highest after taxes and transfers meaning the U S shifts relatively less income from higher income households to lower income households In 2016 average market income was 15 600 for the lowest quintile and 280 300 for the highest quintile The degree of inequality accelerated within the top quintile with the top 1 at 1 8 million approximately 30 times the 59 300 income of the middle quintile The economic and political impacts of inequality may include slower GDP growth reduced income mobility higher poverty rates greater usage of household debt leading to increased risk of financial crises and political polarization Causes of inequality may include executive compensation increasing relative to the average worker financialization greater industry concentration lower unionization rates lower effective tax rates on higher incomes and technology changes that reward higher educational attainment Measurement is debated as inequality measures vary significantly for example across datasets or whether the measurement is taken based on cash compensation market income or after taxes and transfer payments The Gini coefficient is a widely accepted statistic that applies comparisons across jurisdictions with a zero indicating perfect equality and 1 indicating maximum inequality Further various public and private data sets measure those incomes e g from the Congressional Budget Office CBO the Internal Revenue Service and Census According to the Census Bureau income inequality reached then record levels in 2018 with a Gini of 0 485 Since then the Census Bureau have given values of 0 488 in 2020 and 0 494 in 2021 per pre tax money income U S tax and transfer policies are progressive and therefore reduce effective income inequality as rates of tax generally increase as taxable income increases As a group the lowest earning workers especially those with dependents pay no income taxes and may actually receive a small subsidy from the federal government from child credits and the Earned Income Tax Credit The 2016 U S Gini coefficient was 59 based on market income but was reduced to 42 after taxes and transfers according to Congressional Budget Office CBO figures The top 1 share of market income rose from 9 6 in 1979 to a peak of 20 7 in 2007 before falling to 17 5 by 2016 After taxes and transfers these figures were 7 4 16 6 and 12 5 respectively Household net worth and wealth inequality Net personal wealth in the U S since 196
