education and the professional/technical skills of
those at the top and, more and more, fail to get comparable pay
raises, health insurance coverage, and other benefits. Since 1975,
practically all the gains in household income have gone to the top
20% of households. The years 1994-2000 witnessed solid increases in
real output, low inflation rates, and a drop in unemployment to
below 5%. The year 2001 saw the end of boom psychology and
performance, with output increasing only 0.3% and unemployment and
business failures rising substantially. The response to the
terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001 showed the remarkable
resilience of the economy. Moderate recovery took place in 2002 with
the GDP growth rate rising to 2.4%. A major short-term problem in
first half 2002 was a sharp decline in the stock market, fueled in
part by the exposure of dubious accounting practices in some major
corporations. The war in March/April 2003 between a US-led coalition
and Iraq shifted resources to the military. In 2003, growth in
output and productivity and the recovery of the stock market to
above 10,000 for the Dow Jones Industrial Average were promising
signs. Unemployment stayed at the 6% level, however, and began to
decline only at the end of the year. Long-term problems include
inadequate investment in economic infrastructure, rapidly rising
medical and pension costs of an aging population, sizable trade and
budget deficits, and stagnation of family income in the lower
economic groups.

GDP:
purchasing power parity - $10.99 trillion (2003 est.)

GDP - real growth rate:
3.1% (2003 est.)

GDP - per capita:
purchasing power parity - $37,800 (2003 est.)

GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture: 1.4%
industry: 26.2%
services: 72.5% (2003 est.)

Investment (gross fixed):
15.2% of GDP (2003)

Population below poverty line:
12% (2003 est.)

Household income or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%: 1.8%
highest 10%: 30.5% (1997)

Distribution of family income - Gini index:
45 (1997)

Inflation rate (consumer prices):
2.3% (2003)

Labor force:
147.4 million (includes unemployed) (2003)

Labor force - by occupation:
managerial, professional, and technical 34.9%, sales and office
25.5%, manufacturing, extraction, transportation, and crafts 22.7%,
other services 16.3%, farming, forestry, and fishing 0.7%
note: figures exclude the u