Government Reference Sources: Business, Economics, and Labor

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Statistical Agencies | Economy | Business/Industry | NAICS/SIC | Economic Census Data |
Trade | Labor/Jobs | Demographics | Doing Business with Government | Other

Key Statistical Agencies

Which U. S. federal agencies collect the most frequently requested economic and business data?

• Bureau of the Census provides statistics on construction, manufacturing, retail-wholesale trade and selected service industries, business ownership, international trade, income/poverty, and population (estimates, projections, and demographics). Extensive online data with a Subjects A-Z index and a large library of its print publications in PDF. Helpful page on How to Find the Latest Business Data .
• Bureau of Economic Analysis provides statistics on United States gross domestic product, gross state product, balance of payments, foreign direct investment, industry and wealth data, personal income, national income and product accounts.
• Bureau of Labor Statistics provides statistics on topics including inflation and consumer spending, consumer price index), productivity, producer price index, employment/unemployment, employee benefits, compensation/real earnings/wages, and employment/occupational projections.

Which other federal government sites make frequently requested data easily available?

• Stat-USA provides access to vital economic, business, and trade information produced by the United States government. The State of the Nation section offers convenient links to the latest data releases on foreign exchange rates, economic indicators, housing and construction, employment, manufacturing and industry, monetary statistics, and economic policy. (Oviatt Library subscription; other users can link to Stat-USA's homepage to learn about access options).
• USA Trade Online provides online United States import/export statistics by commodity, country, port customs district. (Oviatt Library subscription; other users can link to USA Trade Online's homepage to learn about access options).
• EconomicIndicators.gov
• FedStats is a gateway to statistics from over 100 United States federal agencies.
• Economic Statistics Briefing Room (White House). Provides links to economic indicators produced by a number of Federal agencies. All the estimates for the indicators presented in the Federal Statistics Briefing Rooms are the most currently available values.
• FRASER (Federal Reserve Archival System for Economic Research) and FRED (Federal Reserve Economic Data) offer historic and current economic data.
• See also the specific sites and reference titles listed in other sections of this online guide.

Economic Indicators and Overviews of the Economy

• Stat-USA (Commerce Department). Provides access to vital economic, business, and trade information produced by the United States government. The State of the Nation section offers convenient links to the latest data releases on foreign exchange rates, economic indicators, housing and construction, employment, manufacturing and industry, monetary statistics, and economic policy. (Oviatt Library subscription; other users can link to Stat-USA's homepage to learn about access options).
• EconomicIndicators.gov provides easy access to key economic indicators from the Bureau of Economic Analysis and the United States Census Bureau including: Advance Monthly Sales for Retail and Food Services, Advance Report on Durable Goods, Construction Put in Place, Corporate Profits, Current Account Balance (International Transactions), Gross Domestic Product, Housing Vacancies and Homeownership, Manufacturer's Shipments, Inventories, and Orders, Manufacturing and Trade: Inventories and Orders, Manufacturing and Trade: Inventories and Sales, Monthly Wholesale Trade, New Residential Construction, New Residential Sales, Personal Income and Outlays, Quarterly Finacial Report for Retail Trade, Quarterly Financial Report for Manufacturing, Mining and Trade, Retail E-Commerce Sales, United States. International Trade in Goods and Services, and United States International Transactions.
• FRASER (Federal Reserve Archival System for Economic Research) and FRED (Federal Reserve Economic Data) offer historic and current economic data.
• Survey of Current Business (Bureau of Economic Analysis). Includes gross domestic product and a variety of national, international, and regional/local United States economic indicators.
• Economic Indicators (United States Council of Economic Advisers, online via GPO Access). Earliest official version online is April 1995, continues to current. Also includes a link to unofficial online copies beginning with 1948.
• Economic Report of the President (GPO Access). Annual, online from 1995 to latest.
• Monetary Policy. The Federal Reserve Board's Summary of Commentary on Current Economic Conditions by Federal Reserve District, best known by its popular title of The Beige Book, and other Federal Reserve materials on monetary policy.
• Consumer Price Indexes (Bureau of Labor Statistics) including an inflation calculator and instructions on how to use the Consumer Price Index for contract escalation.
• United States Economy at a Glance. A Bureau of Labor Statistics table of recent data and ten years of back data on the United States economy. Topics include:
  • Unemployment Rate
  • Change in Payroll Employment
  • Average Hourly Earnings
  • Consumer Price Index
  • Producer Price Index
  • Import Price Index
  • Employment Cost Index
  • Productivity
• Small Business Indicators (Small Business Administration). Site includes links to this title and other reports about small business.
• Interest Rates (Federal Reserve Board)
• Foreign Exchange Rates (Federal Reserve Board) Historical Data with link to the Daily Update.
• International Macroeconomic Data Set (Department of Agriculture's Economic Research Service). Data from 1969 through 2017 for real (adjusted for inflation) gross domestic product, population, real exchange rates, and other variables for the 190 countries and 34 regions that are most important for United States agricultural trade.
• Statistical Abstract of the United States. Annual compilation of statistics on industries, population, and a vast array of other topics. Most consider this title easier to use in print format, which is available in the Oviatt Library (latest in Reference Room, ref HA 202). Historical years online offer PDF files (use Adobe Reader); current years offer choice of Excel files or PDF (select the print edition).

Business/Industry

• Manufacturing, Mining, and Construction Statistics (Census Bureau). See also Government Reference Sources: Minerals and Energy.
• Current Industrial Reports (Census Bureau)
• Retail and Food Services/Wholesale Trade Statistics (Census Bureau)
• E-Stats: Measuring the Electronic Economy (Census Bureau). Data from several surveys and links to Quarterly Retail E-Commerce Sales.
• Service Annual Survey and Quarterly Service Survey (Census Bureau)
• Statistics on Banking (Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation)
• Industry Sector Data (International Trade Administration). Tables are available for each 3, 4, 5 and 6 digit NAICS manufacturing code. NAICS tables have data since 1997 for industry and product shipments, total employment, number of production workers, and capital expenditures. Import and export data derived from the merchandise trade statistics since 1997 are also provided. Link to SIC tables for 1987-1996 data.
• Corporation Tax Statistics Industry Data from the Internal Revenue Service's Tax Statistics website.
• SEC Filings & Forms (EDGAR). The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) requires all public companies (except foreign companies and companies with less than $10 million in assets and 500 shareholders) to file registration statements, periodic reports, and other forms (such as 10-K, 8-K, 10-Q forms etc.) electronically through EDGAR. Anyone can access and download this information for free. See also the SEC's Executive Compensation Disclosure database (also known as Executive Pay Finder).
• Statistics of U.S. Businesses (Census Bureau) National and subnational data on business distribution by size and industry. Covering most of the country's economic activity, the series excludes data on self-employed individuals, employees of private households, railroad employees, agricultural production employees, and most government employees
• County Business Patterns (Census Bureau). County Business Patterns (Census Bureau). Various formats for data including County Business Patterns in print-equivalent PDF or County Business Patterns for spreadsheets as well as choices to view County Business Patterns in hypertext tables or to view County Business Patterns via American Factfinder.
• County Business Patterns/Zip Code Business Patterns/Metro Business Patterns (Census Bureau) offers business pattern data by county, zip code, or metropolitan area.
• Statistics about Business Size (Census Bureau) and Firm Size Data (Small Business Administration)
• Statistical Abstract of the United States. Annual compilation of statistics on industries, population, and a vast array of other topics. Most consider this title easier to use in print format, which is available in the Oviatt Library (latest in Reference Room, ref HA 202). Historical years online offer PDF files (use Adobe Reader); current years offer choice of Excel files or PDF (select the print edition).
• Small Business Planner (Small Business Administration) includes information on starting and managing a small business, such as writing a business plan, finance and legal topics, taxes, marketing, and more for those who want to start a new business.
• Classification schemes:
  • North American Industry Classification System (NAICS). Site provides detailed information about NAICS including:
    • North American Industry Classification System for 2007. Includes links to Correspondence Tables for 2007 NAICS Matched to 2002 NAICS and 2002 NAICS Matched to 2007 NAICS
    • North American Industry Classification System Revisions for 2002.
    • 2002 NAICS Codes and Titles with links to definitions.
    • Correspondence Tables to match one classification system to another:
      • 2002 NAICS Matched to 1997 NAICS.
      • 1997 NAICS Matched to 2002 NAICS.
      • 2002 NAICS Matched to 1987 SIC.
      • 1987 SIC Matched to 2002 NAICS.
      • 1997 NAICS and 1987 SIC Correspondence Tables to convert SIC numbers to NAICS (or NAICS to SIC).
  • Standard Industrial Classification Manual (1987) Good site for SIC codes; searchable. NAICS, the North American Industry Classification System, replaced the Standard Industrial Classification (SIC codes). Use 1987 SIC Matched to 2002 NAICS or 1997 NAICS and 1987 SIC Correspondence Tables to convert 1987 SIC numbers to NAICS numbers.
  • North American Product Classification System. Under development, with initial focus on products of service industries.
  • Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States Annotated for imports. (United States International Trade Commission). Site includes both the current schedule and a link to an archive of older versions.
  • Schedule B Export Codes (Census Bureau). Includes links to both the new 2007 changes and the previous (obsolete) codes.

Economic Census Data

Economic Census (Census Bureau)

Profiles the U. S. economy every 5 years, from the national to the local level. Industry and geographic area reports plus nationwide reports such as the Survey of Business Owners (which includes data on owners by gender, race, ethnicity, age and more).

Census of Agriculture (National Agricultural Statistics Service) Data about agribusiness and related topics.

Trade

• Stat-USA (Commerce Department). Provides access to vital economic, business, and trade information produced by the United States government. The National Trade Data Bank section provides access to Country Commercial Guides, Market Research reports, Best Market reports and other programs. The International Trade Library is a comprehensive collection of over 40,000 documents related to international trade. All are full text searchable, as well as key word searchable by country or product. Offers daily trade leads.(Oviatt Library subscription; other users can link to Stat-USA's homepage to learn about access options).
• Basic Guide to Exporting. A publication of the Department of Commerce in Cooperation with Unz & Co., Inc.
• National Trade Estimate Report on Foreign Trade Barriers. See also the Document Library from the Office of the United States Trade Representative.
• United States Foreign Trade Highlights
• USA Trade Online. Specific export and import information on more than 18,000 commodities by commodity, partner country, and customs port district--including Los Angeles. (Oviatt Library subscription).
• Exports and International Trade. Oviatt Library subject guide to trade statistics, trade policy, and export sites which includes both government and nongovernment sources.

Labor/Jobs

• Employment and Unemployment (Bureau of Labor Statistics)
• Average Annual Pay by State and Industry (Bureau of Labor Statistics)
• Earnings By Occupation and Education for all U.S. workers, by state, or by sex. (U.S. Census Bureau)
• Statistics & Data about Women Workers (Women's Bureau)
• Foreign Labor Statistics Home Page (Bureau of Labor Statistics)
• Occupational Outlook Handbook (Bureau of Labor Statistics)
• O*Net Online occupational information
• USA Jobs (Office of Personnel Management). Federal Government employment information.

Demographics

• Community Information by Zip Code. Oviatt Library guide to government data and other information that is available by zip code.
• Government Reference Sources: Population. An Oviatt Library guide to the most frequently used government sources of population statistics.
• United States Census Bureau, especially its American Factfinder database.
• Statistical Abstract of the United States. Annual compilation of statistics on industries, population, and a vast array of other topics. Most consider this title easier to use in print format, which is available in the Oviatt Library (latest in Reference Room, ref HA 202). Historical years online offer PDF files (use Adobe Reader); current years offer choice of Excel files or PDF (select the print edition).

Doing Business with the Federal Government

• Federal Business Opportunities (General Services Administration). FedBizOpps replaced Commerce Business Daily on January 2, 2002 as the single point of universal electronic public access on the Internet for government-wide Federal procurement opportunities that exceed $25,000.
• Government Sales and Auctions Information on and access to all Federal government items and inventories currently held for sale or auction. Site also acts as portal for all announcements regarding sales events and public auctions of government property released by government entities around the world.

Additional Oviatt Library subject guides to government sources of interest to business

• Finding Census 2000 Data by Zip Code
• Los Angeles Government Sources
• San Fernando Valley Statistics and Facts
• Patents, Trademarks, & Copyright
• Tax Forms and Tax Information
• Ways to Search for Government Information
• Finding Statistics

Created and maintained by Mary M. Finley
Questions or comments: mary.finley@csun.edu
Links checked: 12 June 2008