Economy of USA
The United States of America is the world's largest national economy, representing 22.4% of nominal global GDP (gross domestic product) and 16.6% of global GDP The United States' GDP was estimated to be $17.555 trillion as of Q3 2014. The U.S. dollar is the currency most used in international transactions (международные операции) and is the world's foremost reserve currency (передовая резервная валюта). Several countries use it as their official currency, and in many others it is the de facto currency (фактическая валюта). The United States has a mixed economy and has maintained a stable overall GDP growth rate, a moderate unemployment rate (средний уровень безработицы), and high levels of research and capital investment. Its six largest trading partners are Canada, China, Mexico, Japan, Germany, and South Korea.
The US has abundant natural resources, a well-developed infrastructure, and high productivity. It has the world's ninth-highest per capita (на душу населения) GDP (nominal) and tenth-highest per capita GDP (PPP) as of 2013.
The U.S. is the world's largest producer of oil and natural gas. It is the second-largest trading nation in the world as well as the world's second largest manufacturer, representing a fifth of the global manufacturing output (выпуск продукции). Of the world's 500 largest companies, 128 are headquartered in the US.
The United States has one of the world's largest and most influential financial markets. The New York Stock Exchange is by far the world's largest stock exchange (фондовая биржа) by market capitalization. The United States has the largest consumer market in the world, with a household final consumption (потребление) expenditure five times larger than Japan's. The labor market (рынок труда) has attracted immigrants from all over the world and its net migration rate is among the highest in the world.
The US economy is currently embroiled (втянут в) in the economic downturn (упадок, кризис)which followed the financial crisis of 2007–08, with output still below potential according to the Congressional Budget Office (Бюджетное управление Конгресса США). The economy, however, began to recover in the second half of 2009, and as of October 2014, unemployment had declined from a high of 10% to 5.8%; The gap in income between rich and poor is greater in the United States than in any other developed country. Total public and private debt was $50.2 trillion at the end of the first quarter of 2010, or 3.5 times GDP. In December 2013, the total of the public debt was about 0.7 times GDP.
Composition of Economic Sectors
The United States is the world's largest manufacturer, with a 2013 industrial output of US$2.4 trillion. Its manufacturing output is greater than of Germany, France, India, and Brazil combined. Its main industries include petroleum, steel, automobiles, construction machinery, aerospace, agricultural machinery, telecommunications, chemicals, electronics, food processing, consumer goods (потребительские товары), lumber (пиломатериалы), and mining.
The US leads the world in airplane manufacturing, which represents a large portion of US industrial output. American companies such as Boeing, Cessna, Lockheed Martin, and General Dynamics produce a vast majority of the world's civilian and military aircraft in factories stretching across the United States.
The manufacturing sector of the U.S. economy has experienced substantial (значительный, существенный) job losses over the past several years. In January 2004, the number of such jobs stood at 14.3 million, down by 3.0 million jobs, or 17.5 percent, since July 2000 and about 5.2 million since the historical peak in 1979. Employment in manufacturing was its lowest since July 1950. The number of steel workers fell from 500,000 in 1980 to 224,000 in 2000.
The U.S. produces approximately 18% of the world's manufacturing output, a share that has declined as other nations developed competitive manufacturing industries. In addition, growth in telecommunications, pharmaceuticals, aircraft, heavy machinery and other industries along with declines in low end, low skill industries such as clothing, toys, and other simple manufacturing have resulted in some U.S. jobs being more highly skilled and better paying. There has been much debate within the United States on whether the decline in manufacturing jobs are related to American unions, lower foreign wages, or both.
Although agriculture comprises (включает) less than two percent of the economy, the United States is a net exporter of food. With vast tracts of temperate arable land (пахотная земля), technologically advanced agribusiness, and agricultural subsidies (дотации, субсидии), the United States controls almost half of world grain exports. Products include wheat (пшеница), corn (кукуруза), other grains (прочие зерновые), fruits, vegetables, cotton (хлопок); beef (говядина), pork (свинина), poultry (птица), dairy products (молочные продукты); forest products; fish.
Biggest Companies
In 2013, eight of the world's ten largest companies by market capitalization were American: Apple Inc., Exxon Mobil, Berkshire Hathaway, Wal-Mart, General Electric, Microsoft, IBM, and Chevron Corporation.
Apple, Google, IBM, McDonald's, and Microsoft are the world's five most valuable brands in an index published by Millward Brown.
32% of retailers (розничные торговцы) were based in the United States. Amazon.com is the world's largest online retailer.