Understand Your Market and Economic Conditions

Whether you are a new business owner or a seasoned professional, a solid understanding your target market and current economic conditions is key to your business' growth and success. Here you will find a collection of resources providing free access to business and economic statistics collected by the U.S. Government.

General Business Data and Statistics

North American Industry Classification System (NAICS Codes)
Standard used by federal statistical agencies in classifying business establishments for the purpose of collecting, analyzing and publishing statistical data related to the U.S. business economy.
FedStats
Provides a full range of official statistical information produced by more than 100 agencies that provide data and trend information on such topics as economic and population trends, crime, education, health care, aviation safety, energy use, farm production and more.
Statistical Abstract of the United States
An authoritative and comprehensive summary of statistics on the social, political and economic conditions in the United States.
Statistics of U.S. Businesses
A collection of data files created from the U.S. Census County Business Patterns, an annual series that provides subnational economic data by industry.
Small Business Research and Statistics
SBA Office of Advocacy provides research reports and statistical information on small businesses conditions in the United States.
STAT-USA
For a subscription fee, you can access authoritative business, trade and economic information from across the federal government. Produced by the U.S. Department of Commerce.

Demographics - People and Population

American FactFinder
This service of the U.S. Census Bureau provides access to a wealth of population, housing, economic and geographic data.
State and County Quick Facts
Provides frequently requested Census Bureau information at the national, state, county and city level.
Current Population Statistics
A monthly survey of about 50,000 households conducted by the Bureau of the Census for the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Labor Demographics
The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) makes significant amounts of data available for specific demographic categories. Demographic categories used by BLS include sex, age, race and ethnic origin.
Social Security Fact Sheets for Demographic Groups
Fact sheets for all demographic groups including women and young people.
State Population Statistics
Provides access to facts about people, business and geography.

Consumer Statistics

Consumer Credit Data
Consumer credit data provided by the Federal Reserve Statistical Release.
Consumer Fraud and Identity Theft
Includes consumer fraud and identity theft complaints received by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), and both U.S. and Canadian federal, state and non-governmental organizations.
Consumer Product-Related Statistics
Reports showing statistics related to children's products, child poisonings, CO (Carbon Monoxide) poisonings and other products.
Inflation and Consumer Statistics
Lists of indexes offered by the Bureau of Labor Statistics that measure different aspects of inflation.

Economic Indicators

Beige Book: Current Economic Conditions
This report is published after each Federal Reserve Bank gathers information on current economic conditions in its district through reports from bank and branch directors and interviews with key business contacts and other sources.
Bureau of Economic Analysis
Access to national, international, regional and industy economic accounts data.
Consumer Price Index
The Consumer Price Indexes (CPI) program produces monthly data on changes in the prices paid by urban consumers for a representative basket of goods and services.
Economic Census
The Economic Census profiles American business every five years, from the national to the local level.
Economic Indicators
The purpose of these links is to provide timely access to the daily releases of key economic indicators from the Bureau of Economic Analysis and the U.S. Census Bureau.
Economic Report of the President
This is an annual report written by the Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisors. It overviews the nation's economic progress using text and extensive data appendices.
FRED - Federal Reserve Economic Data
This is an informative database of more than 13,000 U.S. economic time series.
Major Economic Indicators
Reports include consumer price index, producer price index, real earnings and others.
Producer Price Indexes
The Producer Price Index (PPI) program measures the average change over time in the selling prices received by domestic producers for their output.
Reports on the U.S. Economy
These reports provide broad and targeted economic data, analyses and forecasts for use by government agencies, businesses and others.
U.S. Economic Indicators, 1998 - Present
This browse page provides access to monthly Economic Indicators from January 1998 forward. Documents are available as ASCII text and Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF).
White House Issues
This provides easy access to the White House plan for improving our economy