BEA BRIEFING Integrating the 2002 Benchmark Input-Output Accounts and the 2002 Annual Industry Accounts

IN SEPTEMBER, the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) released the 2002 benchmark input-output (I-O) accounts.1 Benchmark I-O accounts are released every 5 years and provide a detailed picture of the economy, showing relationships among hundreds of industries and commodities. Estimates in the bench­ mark I-O accounts also serve as the statistical founda­ tion for other BEA estimates, including gross domestic product (GDP). In addition, economists and govern­ ment officials use the benchmark I-O accounts for a wide range of research. One improvement in the 2002 benchmark I-O ac­ counts was the enhanced integration with the 2002 an­ nual industry accounts (chart 1).2 These complementary accounts portray, for all industries, the