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The US economy is regarded as the largest and the most diversified economy in
the world. The economy of the US plays a significant role in the world economy.
This means that the state of the US economy can provide an indication of the
current state of the world economy. In macroeconomics, the evaluation of the
current state of US economy considers a number of economic indicators in the
country. This essay evaluates the current state of the US economy based on
three main macroeconomic goals that include economic growth, full employment
and price stability. Furthermore, the evaluation of the current state of the US
economy also considers one alternative measure for the well being of the
economy.
Economic Growth
The economic growth of a country can be measured in terms of gross domestic
product (GDP). It provides the total goods and services that are produced in a
country. The level of economic growth as indicated by a countrys GDP is
important in determining the economic growth of a country. According to the
Bureau of Economic Analysis, the real GDP of the US in the first quarter of 2015
decreased at an annual rate of 0.2 percent. The statistics also shows that real
GDP increased by 2.2 percent in the fourth quarter of 2015 (Bureau of Economic
Analysis 1). The weak first quarter GDP cannot be used to predict the overall
economic growth of US. The contraction of the first quarter GDP is attributed to
the harsh weather condition that negatively affected housing starts and reduced
the consumer spending.
The expenditures related to personal consumption also increased by 2.1 percent
in the first quarter of 2015 and in the fourth quarter it increased by 4.7 percent.
The real exports of goods and services decreased by 5.9percent in the first
quarter while in the fourth quarter it increased by 4.7 percent. The general
statistics shows that there is an improvement of the US economic in 2015 as
indicated by the increase in various economic indicators such as real GDP, real
personal consumption and real investments.
Full Employment
Employment and unemployment rates are useful economic indicators that can
also determine the current economic state of a country. Full employment
indicates that there is an improvement in the economic growth of a country
(Evans et al 59). The unemployment and employment rate can indicate the
growth in jobs and investments in a country (Schmid, et al 206). This also
suggests that there is economic growth in the country. Statistics shows that
there was a good growth of jobs by 223, 000 in June (Bureau of Labor Statistics
1). The unemployment rate also declined to 5.3 percent in June. According to the
Bureau of Labor Statistics, jobs gains in the United States mainly occurred in
business and professional services, retail trade, health care, transportation,
inequality levels in the US have been increasing over the years an indication that
there is a wide gap between the poor and the rich. According to statistics, the
inequality in the US over the past decades has increased from 7 percent to 22
percent (US Census Bureau 1). The current statistics also shows that 0.1 percent
of the US population owns 22 percent of the total wealth.