New Jersey Facts

What limits a comparison of nominal GDP across two years?

• Year-to-year population changes are the only reason nominal GDP can change
• Nominal GDP removes all changes in market prices by construction
• Nominal GDP is calculated from quantities alone with no monetary valuation
• Different prices may contribute to the change

Why should chained-dollar industry GDP components not always be summed to reconstruct total GDP?

• Industry accounts include only private companies, while total GDP includes government
• Real industry output is measured at current prices but total output uses fixed quantities
• Chain-type quantity indexes are not strictly additive across components
• An industry’s value added is identical to its gross sales in all periods

What does quarterly GDP reported at an annual rate describe?

• The cumulative output produced in the previous four quarters
• A quarter’s production expressed at a yearly pace
• Production in the current quarter stated without annualization
• A seasonally adjusted estimate of only the final month of the quarter

How does a real GDP growth rate differ from a real GDP level?

• Growth is a percentage change; level is an output measure
• Growth is the nominal-dollar difference between two years; level is a percentage
• Growth is the difference in employment; level is income per person
• Real GDP growth tracks prices alone while the level tracks physical output

Why might revised GDP figures for 2023 differ from figures published earlier?

• The BEA replaces every historical estimate with a simple inflation factor
• Yearly values are automatically adjusted to the newest population count only
• Previous GDP totals must remain fixed under federal statistical rules
• BEA incorporates new data and methodological updates

Why can state GDP and metro-area GDP give different totals for New Jersey activity?

• Metro GDP includes only New Jersey companies with headquarters in Newark
• State GDP and metro GDP always have identical boundaries in the Northeast
• Their geographic boundaries are not identical
• State GDP excludes the output of firms operating in a metropolitan county

What could change a GDP-per-capita estimate even if total GDP stays constant?

• Switching the method of classifying manufacturing industries while population is unchanged
• Using a different population estimate vintage or reference year
• Using a different GDP price deflator when the numerator is held fixed
• Updating an industry employment series without altering GDP or population

Why is it a mistake to equate statewide GDP per capita with an individual’s earnings?

• A state average cannot establish an individual’s income
• State GDP per capita is equal to average employee wages by definition
• The measure excludes all production by corporations and government
• Differences in commuting patterns automatically equalize every resident’s income

What information is missing from a median household-income statistic alone?

• Whether the midpoint refers to an equally weighted set of households
• Whether nominal income was converted to a common year’s dollars
• Whether survey respondents were drawn from all eligible neighborhoods
• How income is distributed above and below the median

What issue must analysts consider when using American Community Survey estimates?

• A guaranteed complete enumeration for every city and neighborhood
• Changes in coastline measurement used for standardizing ACS weights
• Sampling uncertainty
• Survey observations that are independent of all household response patterns