The chart is less smooth if expressed in real terms instead of nominal terms (i.e. in "constant dollars", to account for inflation): https://fred.stlouisfed.org

The chart is less smooth if expressed in real terms instead of nominal terms (i.e. in "constant dollars", to account for inflation): https://fred.stlouisfed.org/graph/fredgraph.png?g=lpcg https://fred.stlouisfed.org/graph/fredgraph.png?g=lpcg And part of the trend is simply population growth. Per capita trends are slightly less nice: https://fred.stlouisfed.org/graph/fredgraph.png?g=lpcR https://fred.stlouisfed.org/graph/fredgraph.png?g=lpcR (Note that different scales are used for the real and nominal figures in the charts above.) Over a slightly longer period: https://fred.stlouisfed.org/graph/fredgraph.png?g=lpdg https://fred.stlouisfed.org/graph/fredgraph.png?g=lpdg The rate of growth is clearly decelerating.