GDP of USA - 2013

2013 GDP in Nominal Terms $17.078.3 Trillion

1. Personal Consumption Expenditures

 In 2013, $10.832 trillion of the $15.942 (real terms) trillion produced went toward household purchases. The BEA sub-divides personal consumption expenditures into goods and services.

Here's the latest retail sales statistics.

Goods contributed $3.706 trillion in 2013, almost 1/4 of total GDP.
Goods are further sub-divided into two components. The first is durable goods, such as autos and furniture. This sub-component is  $1.358 trillion. The second is non-durable goods, such as food, clothing and fuel. This contributed $2.366 trillion.

Services are a much larger sub-component of personal consumption expenditures. In 2013, $7.125 trillion in services was produced, nearly half (44.7%) of GDP. In the 1960s, when services contributed less than 30% to the economy. A large driver of this growth has been the dramatic increase of the financial services and health care industries. Most of the services are consumed only in USA and they are difficult to export.


2. Business Investment

Business investment includes purchases that companies make to produce consumer goods.

Total business investment in 2013 was $2.643 trillion, beating its pre-recession peak of $2.327 trillion in 2006, and nearly double its post-recession low of $1.549 trillion in 2009. The BEA divides business investment into two sub-components: Fixed Investment and Change in Private Inventory.

Most of Fixed Investment is non-residential investment, contributing $2.022 trillion in 2013. This consists primarily of of business equipment, such as software and  capital goods.

An  important part of non-residential investment is commercial real estate construction. Commercial real estate's contribution to GDP went from a high of $586.3 billion in 2008 to its low of $376.3 billion in 2010. In 2013, it rebounded a bit to $436 billion or 2.7% of GDP.



Fixed investment also includes residential construction, which includes new single-family homes, condos and townhouses. New home building reached its peak in 2005, when it added $775 billion to GDP. It didn't hit bottom until 2011, when only $338.7 billion was added. Residential construction rebounded to $489 billion or 3.1% of GDP in 2013.

Combined commercial and residential real estate construction contributed $1.195 trillion, or 8.9% of GDP, at its peak in 2006. It fell to a low of $716.9 billion, or 4.9% of GDP, in 2010. In 2013, it was $925.4 billion, or 5.8% of GDP.

The second sub-component of business investment is Change in Private Inventory.  In 2006, companies added $60 billion to inventories. In 2007, they only added $29 billion. After the 2008 financial crisis hit, businesses subtracted $41 billion from their inventories, and withdrew another $160 billion in 2009. Economists knew the recession was really over in 2010, when businesses added $66.9 billion to inventory. In 2013, inventories rose $111.7 billion, nearly double the prior year.


3. Government Spending

Government spending added $2.939  trillion to the economy in 2013, 18.4% of total GDP. This was up from 17% in 2000, but less than the 19% it contributed in 2006.
The Federal Government added $1.125 trillion. $694 billion was military spending. On the other hand, state and local governments can't spend more during a recession. State and local government contributed $1.743 billion in 2013.

4. Net Exports of Goods and Services

Imports and exports have opposite effects on GDP. Exports add, while imports subtract, from GDP. The U.S. imports more than it exports, which creates a trade deficit. That's because the U.S. imports a lot of petroleum, and its service-based economy is difficult to export.

 In 2013, imports were $2.446 trillion, while exports were $2.064 trillion. As a result, international trade subtracted $383 billion from GDP. (Source: U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, National Income and Product Accounts Tables, Table 1.1.5., Gross Domestic Product  Note: The figures reported are real GDP, and are rounded to the nearest billion. )

http://useconomy.about.com/od/grossdomesticproduct/f/GDP_Components.htm

http://www.data360.org/pub_dp_report.aspx?Data_Plot_Id=768