This November, BEA released data on the activities of U.S. affiliates of foreign companies in 2012, including employment, sales, R&D expenditures, capital expenditures, and more. Links to the report and the data tables are posted on BEA's blog.
Creating jobs
In 2012, majority-owned U.S. affiliates of foreign companies employed 5.8 million people in the United States. Over one-third of these jobs are in the manufacturing sector.
Innovating
These U.S. affiliates of foreign companies accounted for $48 billion in research and development expenditures in 2012.
Driving U.S. trade
U.S. affiliates of foreign companies are well-integrated globally, and accounted for more than one-fifth of total U.S. goods exports in 2012.
Looking at the big picture
Did you know that the United States is the largest recipient of FDI in the world? According to the latest BEA data from 2013, the total stock of direct investment in the United States was valued at $2.8 trillion (18 percent of GDP) and FDI inflows totaled nearly $231 billion, up from $170 billion in 2012.