United States of America

F

Tourism

Each year travellers in the United States spend over US$350 billion on transport, food and drinks, various kinds of amusement, and motel and hotel accommodation. Travel and tourism have contributed substantially to the growth of such businesses as motels, restaurants, car-rental agencies, amusement parks, and various retail outlets, including those that sell cameras and film, clothing, sporting goods, gifts, and souvenirs.

In recent decades visitors from overseas have become an increasingly important part of the US tourist business. By 1995 the number of overseas visitors—chiefly from Western Europe, Japan, Latin America, and the Caribbean—was an estimated 43 million, and their expenditure had risen to about US$58.4 billion. Millions of visitors from Canada and Mexico cross the border every year; estimated annual expenditure in the United States by Canadian and Mexican travellers totalled US$6 billion and US$5 billion respectively.

New York is a popular destination among both domestic and foreign travellers, and tourism is a mainstay of the economies of California and Florida. Conveniently located within a day’s journey of the eastern United States, Great Smoky Mountains National Park is the most popular national park in the United States, receiving nearly 9 million recreational visits annually.

G

Energy

Measured in terms of heat-producing capacity (British thermal units, or Btu), petroleum provides about 39 per cent of the total energy consumed in the United States. It supplies about 97 per cent of the energy used to power the nation’s transport system, and it is used to heat millions of houses and factories.

Natural gas is the source of about 24 per cent of the energy consumed for industrial and domestic purposes; coal provides about 22 per cent. Its major uses are in the generation of electricity, which uses more than three quarters of all the coal consumed, and in the manufacture of steel.

Water power generates about 4 per cent and nuclear power about 7 per cent of the nation’s energy. Both are employed mainly to produce electricity for residential and industrial use.

Some 33 per cent of the energy consumed in the United States is used in the generation of electricity. The nation’s generating plants have a total installed capacity of about 741.6 million kilowatts and produce about 3.9 trillion kilowatt-hours of electricity each year. Coal is the most commonly used fuel by electric power plants, and 55 per cent of the nation’s yearly electricity is generated in coal-fired plants. Natural gas accounts for about 10 per cent of the electricity produced, and refined petroleum for about 2 per cent; hydroelectric facilities generate about 7 per cent, and nuclear power plants about 20 per cent.

For many years, petroleum appeared abundant and cheap, and it became the basis for an American lifestyle based on extensive use of the private car. Since 1947, when the United States became a net importer of oil, annual domestic production has not been enough to meet the demands of the highly mobile American society.

In 1970 domestic crude-oil production reached a record high of 3.5 billion barrels, but this had to be supplemented by imports amounting to 12 per cent of the nation’s overall crude oil supply. In 1995 about 50 per cent of the crude oil needs of the United States were met by net imports. However, abundant domestic supplies of coal allow the United States to export part of its annual production. See Energy Supply, World.

H

Currency and Banking

The monetary unit is the United States dollar. The US decimal currency consists of coins and paper money, issued by the US Department of the Treasury and the Federal Reserve System. The Federal Reserve issues paper money called Federal Reserve notes, which constitute almost all the paper money in the United States. The Treasury issues United States notes, which come in $100 denominations, as well as all coins.

Coins are made in six denominations—the penny, or 1¢; the nickel, or 5¢; the dime, or 10¢; the quarter, or 25¢; the half-dollar, or 50¢; and the dollar, or 100¢. Federal Reserve notes are issued in six denominations—$1, $5, $10, $20, $50, and $100. Denominations of $500, $1,000, $5,000, and $10,000 were discontinued in 1969, and $2 bills were stopped in 1976; however, some of these notes remain in circulation. In 1995 the basic US money supply, including currency and funds in checking accounts, was nearly US$1,300 billion.

In 1995 the United States had 11,970 insured banks with a total of nearly 81,893 banking offices. Because of mergers and closures, the number of banks steadily declined in the 1980s and 1990s while the number of bank offices increased. Combined assets were approximately US$4,310 billion. Banks in the United States are chartered under the laws of either a state or the federal government. State-chartered banks are regulated by officials of the state in which they are located; national banks are under the supervision of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.

The Federal Reserve System, created by the Federal Reserve Act of 1913, is the central banking organization of the United States. All national banks are required by law to belong to the Federal Reserve System. State banks may voluntarily become members if they meet certain requirements. Each member bank operates within the district of 1 of the 12 Federal Reserve banks. About 60 per cent of all commercial banking offices belong to banks affiliated with the Federal Reserve System.

In 1995 the United States had about 2,029 savings and loan associations, with combined assets of more than US$1,000 billion. See also Banking; Finance; Money.

I

Commerce and Trade

The United States is the world’s leading trading nation, with a trade volume of US$1,330 billion in 1995. Total merchandise exports in 2004 amounted to US$818 billion, and imports to US$1,525 billion. Beginning in the mid-1970s, the nation’s imports of expensive foreign petroleum and of manufactured goods from Canada and Asia (especially Japan) created a trade imbalance. From 1984 to 1990 the annual merchandise trade deficit regularly exceeded US$100 billion.

Non-agricultural products usually account for approximately 90 per cent of the yearly value of exports and agricultural products for about 10 per cent. Machinery and transport equipment make up the leading categories of exports, amounting together to about 33 per cent of the value of all exports. Other leading exports include electrical equipment, chemicals, precision instruments, and food products.

Canada, Japan, and Mexico are the country’s most important trade partners; they provide the markets for about 41 per cent of total annual exports and are the source of about 44 per cent of imports. Chief trading partners for exports are Canada, Japan, Mexico, Germany, the United Kingdom, Taiwan, and South Korea; chief trading partners for imports are Canada, Japan, Mexico, China, Germany, Taiwan, and the United Kingdom. Leading sources of US petroleum imports are Saudi Arabia, Venezuela, Canada, Mexico, and Nigeria.

J

Labour

In 2006 the United States had a total employed civilian labour force of about 157 million. Primary occupations in agriculture, forestry, fishing, and mining engage only about 3 per cent of the employed population, and secondary occupations in manufacturing and construction employ about 23 per cent. The service activities in the large tertiary sector employ about three quarters of the workers.

By the end of the 1930s the labour union movement in the United States had become widely accepted, and in the mid-1990s organized labour was still one of the most powerful economic forces in the country. The American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) was the leading grouping of unions; about 80 per cent of the union members in the United States belonged to a group affiliated with the AFL-CIO. While the labour movement did help to achieve a higher standard of living for US workers, in the 1980s and early 1990s the number of work hours had begun to increase, while wages failed to keep pace with the rising cost of living. In recent decades the percentage of workers belonging to labour unions has declined.