ntry in their rivals'
home markets than the barriers to entry of foreign firms in US
markets. US firms are at or near the forefront in technological
advances, especially in computers and in medical, aerospace, and
military equipment, although their advantage has narrowed since the
end of World War II. The onrush of technology largely explains the
gradual development of a "two-tier labor market" in which those at the
bottom lack the education and the professional/technical skills of
those at the top and, more and more, fail to get 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 1994-99 witnessed solid increases in real output, low
inflation rates, and a drop in unemployment to below 5%. Long-term
problems include inadequate investment in economic infrastructure,
rapidly rising medical costs of an aging population, sizable trade
deficits, and stagnation of family income in the lower economic
groups. The outlook for 2000 is clouded by the continued economic
problems of Japan, Russia, Indonesia, Brazil, and many other
countries. Domestically, the potentially most serious problem is the
exuberant level of stock prices in relation to corporate earnings.

GDP: purchasing power parity - $9.255 trillion (1999 est.)

GDP - real growth rate: 4.1% (1999 est.)

GDP - per capita: purchasing power parity - $33,900 (1999 est.)

GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture: 2%
industry: 18%
services: 80% (1999)

Population below poverty line: 12.7% (1999 est.)

Household income or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%: 1.5%
highest 10%: 28.5% (1994)

Inflation rate (consumer prices): 2.2% (1999)

Labor force: 139.4 million (includes unemployed) (1999)

Labor force - by occupation: managerial and professional 30.3%,
technical, sales and administrative support 29.2%, services 13.4%,
manufacturing, mining, transportation, and crafts 24.5%, farming,
forestry, and fishing 2.6% (1999)
note: figures exclude the unemployed

Unemployment rate: 4.2% (1999)

Budget:
revenues: $1.828 trillion
expenditures: $1.703 trillion, including capital expenditures of $NA
(1999)

Industries: leading industrial power in the world, highly diversified
and technologically advanced; petroleum, steel, motor vehicles,
aerospace, telecommunications, chemicals, electronics, food
processing, consumer goods, lumber, mining

Indus