The US Economy in the Last Decade

As the year comes to a close, we look back at the past decade in the American economy — the first without a recession since record-keeping began in the 1950s. US economy has been growing since mid-2009. In 2021, the real gross domestic product (GDP) grew faster than it had in any year since 1984. The economy has been led by consumption, private sector investment, and exports.

Here are some other economic indicators:

Unemployment rate: The unemployment rate has reduced from 5.3% up to 3.7%.

Stock market: The stock market has shifted from -2.3% to 22.4%.

GDP per capita: In 2015 the GDP per capita was 56,879 USD which has grown all the years, and in 2019 it was 65,080 USD.

TFP: Total factor productivity is an economic equation that measures the impact of technological advancements and changes in worker knowledge. It’s also known as Solow’s residual. According to the Penn World Tables, TFP in America increased by about 20% between 1990 and 2019.

Middle-class incomes: The median income of middle-class households in 2020 was 50% greater than in 1970.

However, America faces greater inflation and greater supply chain problems than in the past.