US Economy

US economy is one of the major economies of the world. It is also regarded as the biggest economy of all countries in world. US economy is primarily mixed that is governed by the US federal governmental rules but decision making power rests with privately held companies.

Salient Features of US Economy
Following are some salient features of US economy:

• Currency is United States dollar
• Fiscal year lasts from 1st October in a year to 30th September in the next year
• Major trade organizations include North American Free Trade Agreement, Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development and World Trade Organization
• Rate of inflation from June 2007 to June 2008 was 5.6%
• As per estimated statistics of 2006, 5% of US population is living below the poverty line

GDP of US Economy
Estimated GDP of 2007 was $13.84 trillion and estimated growth in GDP was 2.4% in 2007. Estimated per capita GDP in 2007 was $46,000. Maximum contribution to GDP was by services, which contributed 78.5%. Second was industrial sector with 20.6% and third was agricultural sector with 0.9%.

Labor Force of US Economy
As per statistics of May 2008 total labor force in the USA is 154.5 million, including the unemployed. Around 35.5% of US labor force is employed in managerial and professional services and 24.8% is employed in technical, administrative, and sales support jobs. Nearly 16.5% of US labor force is employed in services sector.

About 24% of US labor force is employed in manufacturing, transportation, mining, and crafts services and only 0.6% of US labor force is employed in farming, fishing, and forestry sector. This is a breakup from 2007. As per data of July 2008 only 5.7% of US population is unemployed.Main Industries of US Economy
Following are main industries of the USA:

• Petroleum
• Electronics
• Steel
• Food processing
• Motor vehicles
• Consumer goods
• Aerospace
• Lumber
• Telecommunications
• Mining
• Chemicals
• Defense

Export Statistics of US Economy
As per estimated statistics of July 2008, the USA has exported goods and services worth $1.314 trillion. As per data of 2003, 9% of US exports are made up of agricultural products like soybeans, corn, and fruits and industrial supplies like organic chemicals account for 27% of total exports of the US. A major contributor to US exports is capital goods with a contribution of 49%. Capital goods normally exported by the USA are transistors, computers, aircraft, telecommunications equipments, and motor vehicle parts. Consumer goods like automobiles, furniture, clothing, toys, and medicines take up 32% of total US exports.