On 27 July 2018, the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis disseminated selected quarterly and annual NIPA tables revised from 1929 forward.

Contents

• Scope of the dataset
• Concordance
• Response by Moody's Analytics
• Impact on mnemonics
• Impact on metadata
• Impact on Data Buffet catalog
• Timeline
• References
• See also
• Updates to this article

Scope of the dataset

• 16,622 series total, of which 6,539 have aliases
• 1,820 monthly series, de-duplicated from 1,900
• 4,719 quarterly series, de-duplicated from 5,353
• 10,083 annual series

Concordance

To assist in translating from legacy Data Buffet retrievals (2013 structure), BEA bulk data, or NIPA table position, we have attached a concordance. The spreadsheet has seven columns:

• BEA identifier
• Mnemonic, pattern NCU18_(M,Q,A).IUSA
• Alias(es) for backwards compatibility
• Previously associated mnemonic, if we have removed it because it misrepresented the series or was inconsistent (66 instances)
• Frequency (M, Q or A)
• BEA positions (bar-separated list of table number, colon, line number)

Response by Moody's Analytics

• Archived all prior data under systematically modified mnemonics, for example: GDP_2017.IUSA
• If when retrieving archived series you receive the message "Series found: database closed" you will need to activate data bank NIPA_2017.db, under menu:Settings » Default Databanks.
• Revised existing series.
• Updated measurement units to match BEA:
• Advanced the currency reference period from 2009 to 2012. Quantity and price indexes will be expressed as 2012=100.
• Changed the scale from billions to millions. The estimates for most tables showing real (chained-dollar) estimates will reflect this change.
• Where necessary, created new mnemonics for new tables.
• Standardized mnemonics.
• Start dates may change. The estimates for most tables showing real, or chained-dollar, estimates will start at 2002.

Impact on mnemonics

Please see the attached document for the complete list of mnemonics associated with these releases.

Key changes:

• Before: Monthly and quarterly series have meaningful mnemonics, grouped by indicator (personal income, price index, inventories, etc.). Annual mnemonics describe the position of the series (table and line number).
• After: Our mnemonics embed the BEA unique identifier (created recently). For monthly and quarterly series only, aliases are retained for backwards compatibility.

For example:

Design considerations:

• The common prefix "NCU18" and the standard frequency specifier (A, Q or M) facilitate wild card retrieval, e.g., "NCU18?Q.IUSA" for all quarterly series.
• If you are familiar with the BEA's identifiers, you will be able to directly construct a Data Buffet mnemonic.
• Select NIPA series are repeated across tables and share one BEA series identifier. We are now able to detect duplicate series, thereby improving the quality of our extract (i.e., in pursuit of referential integrity).
• Some metrics are available at multiple frequencies; these share one BEA series identifier, but we download and store them as distinct series, with mnemonics differentiated by the frequency specifier character.
• The replacement annual series will not have aliases. With each five-year update, BEA redesigns the NIPA tables, so a mnemonic (for the 2018 structure) that refers to the position (in the 2013 structure) would be misleading.

Impact on metadata

We have standardized the "description" metadata.

• The text-descriptor reflects the hierarchical position of an indicator within its table. If the series is duplicated (at multiple lines within a table, or in multiple tables), we use the lowest line number or table number.
• If a series is real and at chained prices, the text-descriptor will almost invariably include the word "real", and the unit-descriptor will embed our symbol "Ch. USD" ("chained U.S. dollars").
• If the series is derived from real prices, the text-descriptor will include the word "real", and the unit-descriptor will contain the symbol "Vol. % pts.", "Vol. Q/Q", or "Vol Y/Y".

For example:

As we do currently, the "source" metadata lists all NIPA tables in which a series appears. (The BEA provides a "series register" which is the authoritative guide to these associations; see the References below.) For example:

• NCU18_SAARTM.IUSA (alias CARM.IUSA, auto and truck unit sales) is in a single table: U70205S, at line 4.
• NCU18_A19RLA.IUSA is in 14 tables. The BEA-syntax listing is: T10101:1|T10102:1|T10201:1|T10202:1|T10301:1|T10401:1|T10501:1|T10502:1|T10701:1|T10803:15|T11701:1|U90200:10|U90300:9|U90500:1

Impact on Data Buffet catalog

Because the BEA presentation has changed, expect changes to the Data Buffet catalog. The parent node is:

Historical - United States » National accounts » National Income and Product Accounts

Timeline

We plan to extract series to Data Buffet on the same day they are disseminated by BEA.

Completed

• 27 Jul at 8:30 AM - News release for "GDP: Second Quarter 2018 (Advance Estimate), Comprehensive Update: 1929 through First Quarter 2018." Web release of the quarterly "selected" NIPA tables through BEA's interactive data system.
• 31 Jul at 8:30 AM - News release for "Personal Income and Outlays: June 2018" and Web release of monthly NIPA tables.
• 3 Aug AT 8:30 AM - Web release of "Underlying Detail" tables through BEA's interactive data system.
• NLT 10 Aug - Web release of most NIPA tables not included in the "selected" NIPA tables through BEA's interactive data system.
• Mid-September - In the September Survey of Current Business, publication of the article that details the results of the 2018 Comprehensive Update of the NIPAs which includes:
• The seven NIPA summary accounts
• The table of selected components and major source data
• The tables of revisions to major aggregates

• September through December - Release of NIPA tables 2.9, 3.15-3.23, 5.10, 7.15, and 7.19, and of the fixed assets accounts tables and of the integrated macroeconomic accounts through BEA's interactive data system.

References

• Preview of the 2018 comprehensive update of the national income and product accounts - Changes in methods, definitions, and presentations
• National » Articles » 2018 comprehensive update » 2018 NIPA comprehensive update table release plan
• Selected Tables (pdf)
• Series register (delimited text)

See also

• Data Revision: U.S. - NIPA comprehensive update [2018] - Upcoming
• Using Data Buffet: Activating databanks
• Using Data Buffet: Basket wild card expressions
• Using Data Buffet: Aliases
• Using Data Buffet: Read series measurement units
• Using Data Buffet: Is the series valuation nominal or real?

Updates

• 26 Jul - Initial version
• 31 Jul - Updated completed timeline 
• 03 Aug - Updated completed timeline and attachment 
• 26 Oct - Updated completed timeline and catalog path

• kbmedc_iusa_nipa_20180803.xlsx