In the last quarter of 2021, the unemployment rate in the United States reached an all-time high of 9%. Many economic analysts believe this number to be an underestimate due to under-reporting of job losses. The state of the economy is quite troubling. This is especially true considering the fact that the recession is still in its early stages and many are doubtful about the potential of the American economy.

The United States economy is indeed the largest in the developed world when measured by GDP. Furthermore, the largest contributor to this staggering GDP figure is the service industry, which consist of finance, Real estate, insurance, architecture and legal services, and health care. All these sectors contribute to an estimated $3 trillion in annual revenue. As unemployment remains a looming issue, many economists expect the economy to experience slow but steady job gains over the coming quarters. Although economists have been watching the job market very closely, they admit that they are currently measuring the economy based on too narrow data.

Many say that the United States is still lagging behind other developed countries when it comes to economic growth and job creation. In fact, many economic statistics websites indicate that the U.S. ranks 14th in the world in terms of Gross Domestic Product (GDP). As such, the United States is far from being the largest economy in the developed world. Moreover, many analysts believe that the current measure of the size of the U.S. economy is outdated as a result of the inclusion of several large and medium sized economies into the GDP calculation.

A new way of calculating the size of the U.S. economy by taking into account both the nominal and real gdp figures is called the Mixed Economy Indicator (MEI). According to this type of analysis, the United States is a “part mixed economy” that includes both state-owned enterprises and private sector employment. The private sector, or non-government employment, accounts for roughly two-thirds of the U.S. economy, while state-owned enterprises contribute about one-half of the economy. This indicator, when combined with the current gross domestic product data, indicates a much greater level of U.S. economy strength than the official GDI number.

However, there are limitations to the MEI. Measuring gross domestic product by only using the value of the services supplied by government agencies is insufficient to assess the size of the economy. To measure services provided by private firms, an additional statistic must be calculated called the Purchasing Managers Index (PMI). This index measures the performance of purchasers or managers of firms based on their interactions with suppliers of particular services and products.

Calculating the value of the export market with the MEI is rather difficult because it requires knowledge of the purchasing managers’ index of industrial products, which is currently not available. Also, due to time constraints, it would not be possible to develop an accurate computation of the three-year running performance of the economy under the prevailing circumstances. Without this information, it is impossible to evaluate the effectiveness of the economy under different scenarios and compare its performances over the last three years with the existing benchmark.

If we use the revised GVA per capita in current dollars, the calculation produces a somewhat different number, although not radically so. For instance, if the definition of GVA per capita used is instead current dollars per head of population, then the number would be 2.5 percent lower. But, if we use the definition that utilizes current dollars, then the value would be much smaller than the actual GVA per capita in current dollars. In any case, the calculation of the economies of the United States and Canada turns out to be quite similar, despite the use of slightly different indicators. In both cases, the economies of these two countries are growing considerably faster than the United States and Canadian economies. This growth is probably attributable to the fact that both economies have minimal differences in their ability to convert foreign trade flows into domestic output.

The United States and Canada, unlike some of the other major economic powerhouses in the world today, have not been pursuing rapid expansionary strategies. The reasons behind this are not easily pinpointed. One possibility is that, unlike many other countries that have experienced large amounts of recent global volatility (e.g., the United Kingdom, India, and China), Canadians have been successful in maintaining a relatively stable exchange rate, which has insulated them from the fluctuations in global trade. Moreover, Canadians have been successful in building effective infrastructures, which allow the country to continue its trend of long-term economic prosperity, even in light of the global uncertainty.