Resources Stay informed about BEA developments by reading The BEA Wire, signing up for BEA's email subscription service, or following @BEA_News on X. Historical time series for these estimates can be accessed in BEA's Interactive Data Application. Access BEA data by registering for BEA's Data Application Programming Interface. For more on| www.bea.gov
Nonmonetary gold is used for two purposes: for industrial use (as an input into the production of goods and services, such as jewelry, watches, and electronic equipment) and for investment (as a store of wealth and a hedge against inflation). BEA’s national economic accounts (NEAs) do not treat transactions in valuables, such as nonmonetary gold, as investments and therefore purchases of nonmonetary gold as a form of investment are not included in personal consumption expenditures, gross pr...| www.bea.gov
For ease of comparison, BEA publishes percent changes in most quarterly estimates at annual rates. If GDP increases 3.0 percent from year 1 to year 2 and increases at an annual rate of 3.6 percent in the first quarter of year 3, it is easy to see that the first-quarter growth rate is larger than the growth for year 2. If the growth rate in the first quarter of year 3 was presented at the quarterly rate of 1.0 percent, comparing it to the year 2 growth rate is more difficult.| www.bea.gov
Catastrophic events, such as hurricanes or terrorist attacks, are classified as disasters if either the associated property loss or the insurance payouts exceed 0.1 percent of GDP (in 2021, about $23 billion in current dollars). Losses of and non-repairable damages to the stock of fixed assets (structures, equipment, and software) associated with a disaster are included in "other changes in volume of assets," which are a subtraction in the derivation of net stock1. Disaster losses are not inc...| www.bea.gov
Disasters--such as hurricanes, terrorist attacks, or other major catastrophes--affect economic activity because (1) current production is affected, (2) structures, equipment, and other assets are damaged or destroyed (and must be repaired or replaced), and (3) transactions, such as payments of insurance benefits or government disaster relief, take place as a result of the damages incurred.| www.bea.gov