Economy
Economy
The U.S. is the world’s biggest industrial country. It has been that
way since 1910. Until the mid 1800s agriculture became less and
less important to the U.S. economy. Now the most significant part
of the U.S. economy is industry. The government employs 15% of
people working in the U.S. In the 1998-1999 the U.S. spent about
$1.67 trillion.
Manufacturing
The United States leads the worlds manufacturing output.
Manufacturing employs one sixth of the U.S. workers. In the
1990s the total value of manufacturing was $16 trillion. It is an
important part of the economy. Still it has been declining since the
1970s.
Currency and Banking
In the U.S. they use paper money and coins. The paper money is
also referred to Federal Reserve notes. Coin Denominations are the
penny; the nickel; the dime; the quarter; and the half-dollar. Paper
money includes $1, $2, $5, $10, $20, $50, and $100. They stopped
making $500, $1000, $5000 and $10,000 in 1969. Some are still
used today. In 1996 there were 11,452 banks. State banks are
watched by state officials. The office of the Comptroller Currency
supervises national banks. Many major banks have been merging.
As more banks merge it gets more competitive. The major banks
in America include Chase Manhattan bank, Citibank, Bank of
America, Morgan Trust and Bankers Trust.
Labor
In 1996 the total number of employed labor force was 126.7
million. 7.2 million were unemployed trying to find jobs.
Agricultural jobs only make up 3% of all workers. Industrial jobs
employ 23% of all workers. The American Federation of labor and
congress of industrial organizations is the lead group of unions.
The largest AFL-CIO unions are many unions in the U.S. There
are so many so I won’t name them. The United Mine Workers of
America were the largest union not to be with the AFL-CIO. In the
1990s the number of working shifts began to increase, because of
the cost of living.
Agriculture
Farming employs 3% of the nation workers. In 1994 the value of
farm output went to 202 billion. 1% of farms are household farms.
Most farming is done on huge commercial farms. Scientific
farming practices lead to a decrease in farms and an increase in
farm size. Between 1950 and 1996 the number of farms decreased
3.5 million. 2.1 million farms remain. During the same period of
time the average farm size increased from 213 acres to 469 acres.
In the 1990s livestock products made 49% of the farm marking
value. The rest were crops. Beef cattle are the most important
commodity of the U.S. Most cattle are raised in the southern
states. The state that raises the most cattle is Texas. Other major
states include Colorado, Iowa and Kansas. Dairy products are the
second most important products. Wisconsin and California are two
of the leading dairy states. Hogs, broiler chickens, chicken eggs,
turkeys and sheep are other major livestock products. Some major
crops are corn, nuts, soybeans, wheat, cotton and vegetables. Corn
is grown in many parts of the United States, but most is grown in
the Midwest. Corn is one of the primary foods for hogs and cattle.
Wheat is also a major crop. Kansas on most years produces the
most wheat. Other significant producers are Washington, North
Dakota, Texas and Nebraska. Tobacco is a major cash corp. The
top two growing states are North Carolina and Kentucky. North
Carolina makes one third while Kentucky makes up one forth of
output
Foreign Trade
The U.S. is the worlds leading trade nation. Nonagricultural
products make 90% of the yearly exports. Agricultural products
make the other 10%. Some of the nation’s exports include
machinery, chemicals, instruments, food items and electrical
equipment. Some of the main exporting countries are Japan,
Canada, Taiwan, United Kingdom, Germany and Mexico. Main
trading countries for imports are Canada, Mexico, Japan, China,
Taiwan and Germany.