February 6, 2015
On Monday, President Obama released the Commerce Department’s
Fiscal Year 2016 budget request. The FY16 budget request directly aligns with
the Department’s “Open for Business Agenda”, which ensures that we are
prioritizing trade and investment, fueling our data-driven economy, spurring
innovation, and providing smart environmental intelligence in order to keep America’s business as strong
and globally competitive.
Today’s January jobs report was another sign that our
economy is continuing to gain momentum. In addition to the 257,000 jobs added
last month, the manufacturing sector added 22,000 jobs, making it 877,000 new
jobs since February 2010. This good news is added to new data from ITA that shows
U.S. exports hit a record high for the fifth straight year. Records were set in
exports of capital goods; consumer goods; petroleum products; foods, feeds, and
beverages; and automotive vehicles and parts.
Around Commerce, USPTO launched an enhanced Patent
Quality Initiative; the U.S. Census Bureau is researching new, innovative ways
on how technology can transform the way it does business, and ITA hosted Ambassadors
from three of Africa’s fastest-growing economies who made the case for Doing
Business in Africa.
As always, thanks for reading and please let us know if
there’s anything we can do to help you as we work to keep America “Open for
Business”. Have a great weekend!
-Jim
FY 2016 Budget Request Prioritizes Innovation-Secretary
Pritzker released the U.S. Department of Commerce’s fiscal year 2016 budget request. The FY 2016 budget request supports
and builds on President Obama’s vision for creating economic opportunity
that will benefit all Americans. The budget includes critical funding for key
Commerce priorities.
U.S. Exports Hit Record High
for the Fifth Straight Year-The Commerce Department announced new data that show U.S.
businesses exported $2.35 trillion of our goods and services in 2014, hitting a
record high for the fifth straight year. What
does this mean for American businesses and American workers? Exports have been
a key driver in our economic comeback.
A Record Year for American Exports, Further
Proof of American Greatness- “The shadow of crisis has passed,” the
President declared in his State of the Union two weeks ago, and the export data
the Commerce Department released goes to the heart of that very point. In fact, the U.S. economy had record goods exports with 52 countries in
2014.
2015 National
Inventors Hall of Fame Inductees Announced- Last
week, the National Inventors Hall of Fame, in partnership with the United
States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) announced the 2015 Hall of Fame inductees. These visionary inventors each
patented inventions that revolutionized their industries and changed people’s
lives. Of the fourteen new inductees, seven will be honored posthumously.
The Important Work
of NACIE Begins- NACIE is emblematic of all the
entrepreneurs, educators, philanthropists, and innovators in all sectors of the
economy who are working to ensure that our country remains a place of
opportunity, innovation and entrepreneurship for generations to come. In
December 2014 Secretary Pritzker convened the first meeting of the 27-member NACIE.
PricewaterhouseCoopers
U.S. Public Sector: A Milestone in its Quality Story-In 2014, PricewaterhouseCoopers
Public Sector Practice (PwC PSP) became the first large service
organization to win the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award in 15 years.
But according to Scott McIntyre, managing partner and leader of PwC PSP, the
nation’s highest award for organizational excellence is just one milestone in
the group’s ongoing quality story.
African Ambassadors Make the Case for U.S.
Companies to do Business in Africa- It was an honor for the International Trade
Administration to join the Virginia-Washington D.C. District Export Council and
Ambassadors from three of Africa’s fastest-growing economies at a recent
networking event focused on U.S. companies doing business in Africa.
USPTO Launches Enhanced Patent Quality Initiative-The
Enhanced Patent Quality Initiative allows USPTO to further improve patent
quality through direct and ongoing engagement. Engagement consists of robust
discussions with the broader public, from a longtime patent owner to a Main
Street retailer who has only recently begun to focus on these issues; from
patent prosecutors to patent litigators and from patent applicants to patent
licensees.
Getting Uncle Sam’s Help on 3D Printing
Projects- Additive manufacturing, or 3D printing, provides
cost-effective solutions to vexing industrial problems. The series of tests and
evaluations against requirements can often be thought of as experiments.
Latest NOAA Mapping Software opens up New
Possibilities for Emergency Responders- For 20 years, thousands of
emergency planners and responders have used the MARPLOT mapping software to
respond to hazardous chemical spills. But creative MARPLOT users have also
employed the program for a wide range of other uses, including dispatching
air ambulances and helping identify a serial arsonist.
The Bureau of Economic Analysis wrote Consumer
Spending Falls in December; 2014
Trade Gap is $505.0 Billion; and December
2014 Trade Gap is $46.6 Billion on their blog this week.
Total
construction activity for December 2014 ($982.1 billion) was 0.4 percent
above the revised November 2014 ($978.6 billion). The December figure is 2.2
percent above the December 2013 estimate of $961.2 billion.
New orders for
manufactured goods in December decreased $16.4 billion or 3.4 percent to
$471.5 billion. Shipments, down four of the last five months, decreased $5.3
billion or 1.1 percent to $488.2 billion. Inventories, down following 18
consecutive monthly increases, decreased $2.0 billion or 0.3 percent to $653.9
billion.
The nation’s international
trade balance in goods and services decreased to -$46.6 billion in December
from -$39.8 billion in November (revised). December exports were $194.9
billion, down $1.5 billion from November. December imports were $241.4 billion,
up $5.3 billion from November.
Commerce Data in the News:
The Washington Post
cites Current Population Survey and Survey of Income and Program Participation
data in writing that the number of fathers who stay home to watch children for
any reason has nearly doubled since 1989 in the article, The
Super Bowl Ads were Right: Dads in America Really are Changing Their Act.
NBC News cites
race and population figures from the Census Bureau to report that fire
departments are becoming more diverse in the article Meet
New York’s Only Female, Asian-American Firefighter.
The Bureau
of Economic Analysis’ U.S. International Trade in Goods and Services report
was highlighted in the recent Bloomberg
Businessweek article: Trade
Gap in U.S. Reaches a Two-Year High as Imports Rise.
The Bureau
of Economic Analysis’ Gross Domestic Product report was highlighted in the
recent Forbes article: U.S.
2.4% Economic Growth in 2014 Strongest Since Recession.
The Bureau of
Economic Analysis’ Personal Income and Outlays report was highlighted in
the recent Business Insider article: The Fed’s Favorite
Measure of Inflation is Drifting in the Wrong Direction.
Data Releases Next Week: Monthly Wholesale Trade: December (Census);
Advance Monthly Retail Sales: January (Census); Manufacturing and Trade: Inventories
and Sales: December
On Sunday, Deputy Secretary Andrews will speak at
the NOAA Satellite Operations Facility in Suitland, MD, about the Deep
Space Climate Observatory (DSCOVR) launch and why it’s important that we invest
in technology that can accurately predict space weather at a viewing of
the NOAA, NASA, and U.S. Air Force launch of the DSCOVR satellite from
Cape Canaveral, FL.
On Monday, Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and
Atmosphere and NOAA Administrator Dr. Kathryn Sullivan will be the keynote
speaker at this year’s SeaWeb Seafood Summit in New Orleans. She will discuss
resilience in the fishing industry (sustainable management), aquaculture, and
announce details of a report on illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU)
fishing.
On Tuesday, MBDA Chief of the Office of Business
Development Joann Hill is a panelist for the 28th Annual Benedict
College Black History Teleconference in Columbia, SC, hosted by Benedict
College. The event will commemorate and reflect on the 2015 Black History Month
theme, “A Century of Black Life, History and Culture.”
On Wednesday, Secretary Pritzker will speak at the Kauffmann
Foundation’s 2015 State of Entrepreneurship event where she will discuss what
the Obama Administration is doing to set the conditions to increase
entrepreneurship.
Also on Wednesday, the Information Security and Privacy
Advisory Board (ISPAB) will meet in Washington, DC. The ISPAB advises the
Secretary of Commerce, the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, and
the Director of NIST on information security and privacy issues pertaining to
federal computer systems. NIST staff will present updates on the Framework for
Improving Critical Infrastructure Cybersecurity, Cryptographic Standards
Program and Privacy Engineering initiative.
On Thursday, USPTO Deputy Director Michelle Lee will speak on innovation and
MBDA National Deputy Director Albert Shen will speak on MBDA services at a
Black History Month program at Coppin State University in Baltimore, MD.
On Friday, Secretary Pritzker will participate in the
White House Cybersecurity Summit in San Francisco, CA. She will moderate a
panel entitled, “Improving Cybersecurity Practices at Consumer Oriented
Businesses and Organizations” with several private-sector CEOs.
Secretary
Pritzker with Census Bureau Director John Thompson and USPTO Deputy Director
Michelle Lee at the all-hands employee meeting to discuss the Commerce
Department’s FY2016 budget request.
State
Government Revenues Rise-The Census Bureau posted a news graphic that
showed how insurance trust revenue is fueling the growth in state total
revenue. The information comes from the Annual Survey of State Government
Finances.
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