State
A blog from BEA Director Vipin Arora
A consistent theme throughout the history of BEA and its forerunners—driven by significant public and policymaker demand—is the expansion of our regional statistics. This expansion began with the publication of our first annual statistics on state income payments in 1939, and has continued since.
A blog post from BEA Director Vipin Arora
An old boss of mine was fond of a BEA product that many of our users don’t know about—regional price parities (RPPs). He said regional price parities are BEA’s most underappreciated statistic. While I love all our products equally—just like I love all my kids equally—I can’t help but agree that the RPPs are a gem that sometimes gets overlooked. I hope you won’t overlook the new RPP data coming Thursday, Dec. 12.
BEA's economic modeling tool that helps users analyze how a proposed project would ripple through a region's economy is now updated with new benchmark data.
State and local governments, civic leaders, planners, investors, and others use the tool to assess the economic impact of projects or events within their selected area. For example, building an apartment complex would require buying building materials from local retailers and wholesalers, leasing equipment, and hiring tradespeople. Employees of these and other local businesses would have additional wages to spend, perhaps on household needs or recreation.
Real gross domestic product (GDP) increased in 864 counties, decreased in 2,234 counties, and was unchanged in 14 counties in 2020. The percent change in real GDP ranged from 91.0 percent in Foard County, TX, to –29.0 percent in Skagway Municipality, AK. GDP estimates were impacted by the response to the spread of COVID-19, as governments issued and lifted “stay-at-home” orders. The full economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic cannot be quantified in the county GDP estimates, because the impacts are generally embedded in source data and cannot be separately identified.