Economics: Statistics and Data-United States

Licensing agreements may limit use of some databases. For a complete list of databases available to the Boston University community, see: http://www.bu.edu/library/research/indexes.html

Boston Census Research Data Center (BRDC)
As a partnership between the U.S. Census Bureau and the NBER, BRDC provides restricted access to unpublished micro-data for economic and demographic censuses and surveys. Information on the program can be found at the homepage of the Center for Economic Studies (CES), a research unit of the Office of the Chief Economist at the Census Bureau. Research within BRDC requires the development and approval of a proposal. Proposal Guidelines can be found at the CES web page. It is important to contact the BRDC Administrator early about your prospective project to help you navigate the process and answer your questions.

Business Source Complete [About]
see Country Reports in right margin

Conference Board Research Online Collection [About]

EIU - Economist Intelligence Unit
[About] (works only with Firefox)

International Financial Statistics [About]

NBER (National Bureau of Economic Research) [About]

OECD Factbook

SourceOECD [About]

STAT-USA  [About]

Statistical Universe [About]

World Development Indicators (WDI) [About] Works Best with Firefox

United States Government Web Sites

American Fact Finder
http://factfinder.census.gov/
From the U.S. Census Bureau. Offers population, housing, economic and geographic data.

Bureau of Economic Analysis
http://www.bea.gov/
Department of Commerce site. Provides information on economic growth, regional development, and the United States's role in the world economy. This Web site makes available articles and statistical data from the BEA's international, national, and regional programs on production, purchases, prices, personal income, government finances, inventories and balance of payments. Issues of the BEA's monthly Survey of Current Business are also available beginning in 1994.
Also available in a print edition.

Bureau of Labor Statistics
http://www.bls.gov
Many labor topics covered including statistical data, the economy at a glance, regional information and research. Statistical data series chronicle employment and unemployment, prices and living conditions, compensation and working conditions, and productivity. Issues of the BLS' Monthly Labor Review are available online from 1981 to the present.

Business Statistics of the United States
Published by the Bureau of Economic Analysis until 1992 as a supplement to the Survey of Current Business. Business Statistics is a compendium of historical statistics on the U.S. Economy. Since 1995 a new series based on similar government data has been published by a commercial publisher.
Pardee Reference X HC101 .A131222 Library has: Current five years.

Census Bureau Economic Programs
http://www.census.gov/econ/www/index.html
Statistics from the 2002 Economic Census are available at this U.S. Census Bureau Web site. There are also links to the Census Bureau's other economic and business data series, including the censuses of agriculture, construction, manufactures, mineral industries, retail trade, wholesale trade, and transportation communications, and utilities. For earlier editions of these censuses, see Census Data.

Economic Report of the President
http://www.gpoaccess.gov/eop/index.html
An annual report of the President on U.S. economic conditions, including a section of statistical tables with retrospective data. The Economic Report is also available in a print edition.

Economic Statistics Briefing Room
http://www.whitehouse.gov/fsbr/esbr.html
A White House Web site providing access to current economic indicators produced by a number of federal government agencies. The latest figures are given for the following economic indicators: production, sales, orders, and inventories; output; income, expenditures, and wealth; employment, unemployment, and earnings; prices; money, credit, and interest rates; transportation; and international statistics.

Fed in Print
http://www.frbsf.org/publications/fedinprint/index.html
Fed in Print - an index to Federal Reserve economic research.

FedStats
http://www.fedstats.gov
Maintained by the Federal Interagency on Statistical Policy to collect statistics from over 100 U.S. government agencies.

FRED, an Economic Time-Series Database
http://research.stlouisfed.org/fred
Provides up-to date financial and economic data, historical U.S. economic and financial data, including daily U.S. interest rates, monetary and business indicators, exchange rates, balance of payments and regional economic data.

National Income and Product Accounts of the United States
A supplement to the Survey of Current Business giving the full set of National Income and Product Accounts (NIPA) data beginning in 1929. Updated National Accounts Data is available online from the Bureau of Economic Analysis.
Mugar Reference X HC110 .I5 A3 Library has: Current five years.

Statistical Abstract of the U.S.
http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/
Statistical Abstract of the U.S., published since 1878, is the authoritative and comprehensive summary of statistics on the social, political, and economic organization of the United States.

Survey of Income and Program Participation
http://www.sipp.census.gov/sipp
Collection of data on income, labor force, and general demographic characteristics. Evaluates existing federal, state, and local programs and estimates future costs.

United States Department of Agriculture/Agricultural Statistics
http://www.usda.gov/nass/pubs/agstats.htm
Agricultural Statistics is published each year to meet the diverse need for a reliable reference book on agricultrual production, supplies, consumption, facilities, costs, and returns.

United States Department of the Interior. United States Geological Survey. Minerals Yearbook
http://minerals.usgs.gov/minerals/pubs/myb.html
The Minerals Yearbook is an annual publication that reviews the mineral and material industries of the United States and foreign countries. The Yearbook contains statistical data on materials and minerals and includes information on economic and technical trends and development. The Minerals Yearbook includes chapters on approximately 90 commodities and over 175 countries.

United States Department of the Treasury
http://www.ustreas.gov
U.S. Treasury manages federal finances. Advises on domestic and international financial, monetary, economic, trade and tax policy.

United States Economic Indicators
http://www.gpoaccess.gov/indicators/index.html
Economic Indicators for 1998 to date are prepared and published monthly for the Joint Economic Committee, by the Council of Economic Advisers. Each issue includes the latest figures for Gross Docmestic Product, employment and unemployment, wages, industrial production, consumer and producer prices, money supply, bank and consumer credit, federal finance, and U.S. international trade. This publication is also available in a print edition.

United States Federal Reserve Board of Governers
http://www.federalreserve.gov/
The Federal Reserve Banks governs the twelve district Federal Reserve Banks in the US and is chiefly responsible for setting economic policy. This site has links to the Federal Reserve Banks, economic studies, statistics, and the Beige Books. Beige Books are prepared several times a year by the district banks and give a regional "picture" of the economy. The full text of FRB publication is available, including working papers, surveys, reports, statistical series, and the Federal Reserve Bulletin. Issues of the Federal Reserve Bulletin are also available in print.

Additional Resources

Economic Time Series from Economagic
http://www.economagic.com/
Economic time series from the U.S. (Federal Reserve Banks, Census Bureau, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Dept. of Commerce), as well as the Bank of Japan, the Bank of Canada, and the Central Bank of Europe. Data can be charted with comparisons. Stock price indexes include the Dow Jones industrial, transportation and utility averages from 1982- current year; S&P 500 and 100; and the Bridge Commodity Research Bureau (CRB) index.

Macroeconomic Time Series Data Source Locator
http://busecon.lib.uchicago.edu/
Provides a list of macroeconomic data sources available at the University of Chicago categorized by year, geographic location and subject. Types of sources include books, journals, yearbooks, CD-ROMs and Internet resources.

Statistical Resources on the Web from University of Michigan Document Center
http://www.lib.umich.edu/govdocs/stats.html
Well maintained and extensive, this site has links to statistics by subject.

Panel Study of Income Dynamics
http://psidonline.isr.umich.edu/
U.S. longitudinal study that begins in 1968 and focuses on economic and demographic behavior. Includes sociological and psychological measures.

Historical Statistics of the United States: Colonial Times to 1970
Mugar Reference X HA202 .B87 1976
Pardee Reference X HA202 .B87 1976
A two volume set compiled by the Social Science Research Council.

Historical Statistics of the United States : Earliest Times to the Present
Mugar Reference X HA202 .H57 2006
A five volume set that updates Historical Statistics of the United States: Colonial Times to 1970.

A Statistical Portrait of the United States: Social Conditions and Trends
Pardee Reference X HA214 .S84 2002
Historic data are included along with the latest available data on several topics as well as projections and forecasts. Demographic topics include population, households and families, social conditions, housing, and education. Socio-economic and economic topics include labor force and job characteristics, and income and poverty. Other important topic areas are crime, health, voting, leisure activities, volunteerism, religiosity, and government.

 

 
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