Section 13
Income, Expenditures, Poverty, and Wealth
This section presents data on gross
domestic product (GDP), gross national
product (GNP), national and personal
income, saving and investment, money
income, poverty, and national and per-
sonal wealth. The data on income and
expenditures measure two aspects of the
U.S. economy. One aspect relates to the
National Income and Product Accounts
(NIPA), a summation reflecting the entire
complex of the nation’s economic income
and output and the interaction of its
major components; the other relates to
the distribution of money income to fami-
lies and individuals or consumer income.
The primary source for data on GDP, GNP,
national and personal income, gross sav-
ing and investment, and fixed assets and
consumer durables is the Survey of Cur-
rent Business, published monthly by the
Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA). A
comprehensive revision to the NIPA was
released beginning in December 2003.
Discussions of the revision appeared in
the January, June, August, September, and
December 2003 issues of the Survey of
Current Business. Summary historical esti-
mates appeared in the February 2004
issue of the Survey of Current Business.
Detailed historical data can be found on
BEA’s Web site at <http://www.bea.gov/>.
Sources of income distribution data are
the decennial censuses of population, the
Current Population Survey (CPS), and the
American Community Survey, all products
of the U.S. Census Bureau (see text, Sec-
tion 1 and Section 4). Annual data on
income of families, individuals, and
households are presented in Current
Population Reports, Consumer Income,
P60 Series, in print. Many data series are
also found on the Census Web site at
<http://www.census.gov/hhes/www
/income.html>. Data on the household
sector’s saving and assets are published
by the Board of Governors of the Federal
Reserve System in the quarterly statistical
release Flow of Funds Accounts. The Fed-
eral Reserve Board also periodically con-
ducts the Survey of Consumer Finances,
which presents financia