The United States remained the world's largest services market and also the world's leading exporter and importer of services in 2009, reports the U.S. International Trade Commission (USITC) in its publication Recent Trends in U.S. Services Trade, 2011 Annual Report.

The USITC, an independent, nonpartisan, factfinding federal agency, compiles the report annually. Each year's report presents a statistical overview of U.S. trade in services and highlights some of the service sectors and geographic markets that contribute substantially to recent services trade performance.

This year's report primarily focuses on professional services and includes separate chapters on specific professional service sectors (computer, education, health and legal services) and audiovisual services. These chapters analyze issues affecting global competitive conditions in the industry, examine recent trade performance, and summarize the industry outlook going forward.

The 2011 report covers trade in services from 2004 through 2009. Highlights of the report follow.

• The U.S. services trade surplus in 2009 shrank for the first time since 2003, largely due to the economic downturn. The total U.S. services trade surplus was $149 billion in 2009, down from $161.4 billion in 2008. Professional services accounted for roughly a fifth of U.S. cross-border services exports in 2009.
• In 2008, the value of services sold abroad by foreign affiliates of U.S. firms ($1.1 trillion) continued to exceed purchases of services from foreign-owned affiliates in the United States ($727.4 billion). Foreign affiliates of U.S. firms supplied no less than $91.8 billion in professional services, higher than the $82.2 billion in professional services supplied by U.S. affiliates of foreign firms.
• Professional services account for a large and growing segment of the U.S. economy. In 2009, professional services contributed $2.2 trillion, or 20 percent, to U.S. private sector GDP. Between 2004 and 2008, annual growth in professional services output exceeded output growth in infrastructure services as well as the U.S. private sector as a whole.
• In 2009, professional services employed 26 million persons, or 26 percent of U.S. private sector employment. Wages for professional service workers grew more rapidly than those for infrastructure services. In 2009, professional workers, on average, earned more than their counterparts in infrastructure services or goods industries.
• A number of factors created opportunities for U.S. professional and audiovisual service providers in foreign markets. Demographic trends increased demand in mature audiovisual and healthcare markets, while economic development in emerging markets stimulated demand for education and legal services and bolstered trade for computer services.
• The economic environment influenced the operations of many U.S. professional service providers. The economic downturn depressed demand in a number of different services sectors, including computer, healthcare, and legal services, while education and healthcare service providers experienced a shifting policy environment as governments try to balance budgetary and social objectives.
• The USITC hosted its 4th annual services roundtable on December 8, 2010; the discussion is summarized in the report. Discussion topics included the effect of globalization on U.S. service jobs and wages, the net welfare effects of establishing service affiliates abroad, and the effects of technological advancements on the production and delivery of services.

Recent Trends in U.S. Services Trade, 2011 Annual Report (Investigation No. 332-345, USITC publication 4243, July 2011) is available on the USITC's Internet site at http://www.usitc.gov/publications/332/pub4243.pdf.