The United States of America has one of the world’s largest economies, operating as a free market economy in consumer goods and business services. The government imposes regulations even in those areas to protect the good of all. It operates as a command economy in defense, some retirement benefits, medical care, and in other areas . The US economy is the world’s largest economy by nominal GDP, and the second-largest by purchasing power parity (PPP) behind China. It has the world’s seventh-highest per capita GDP (nominal) and the eighth-highest per capita GDP (PPP) as of 2022 ?.
According to the Bureau of Economic Analysis, the US economy grew at an annual rate of 4.9% in the third quarter of 2023, primarily reflecting increases in consumer spending and inventory investment. Profits increased 3.4 percent at a quarterly rate in the third quarter after increasing 0.2 percent in the second quarter. In the third quarter, the value added of private goods-producing industries increased 10.2 percent, private services-producing industries increased 4.1 percent, and government increased 2.0 percent. Overall, 14 of 22 industry groups contributed to the third-quarter increase in real GDP .
In December 2023, the US economy added 216,000 new employees, and unemployment held steady at 3.7 percent, making December the 23th straight month with an unemployment rate below 4 percent, the country’s longest such run since the 1960s . Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen declared that the US economy had achieved a long-sought soft landing, a historically unusual event in which high inflation is tamed without significantly damaging the labor market .
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