Economic Indicators 

Economics & Statistics Administration

http://www.esa.doc.gov/about-economic-indicators

This site provides data useful for identifying economic needs and trends that may be helpful for planning programs that support local or regional economic growth. The Economics and Statistics Administration (ESA) of the U.S. Department of Commerce releases 12 monthly and quarterly Principal Federal Economic Indicators collected by its constituent bureaus: the U.S. Census Bureau and the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA). Businesses rely heavily upon these indicators to make decisions every day. In their public comments, the Secretary and ESA’s Under Secretary and Chief Economist put the indicators into a national and global economic context. Data are released in the form of reports (e.g. Advance Monthly Sales for Retail and Food Services).

U.S. Census Bureau Economic Data

http://www.census.gov/cgi-bin/briefroom/BriefRm

This site provides data useful for identifying economic needs and trends that may be helpful for planning programs that support local or regional economic growth. The U.S. Census Bureau Economy Overview issues reports and data sets based on data collected (usually) every five years. The site covers many key economic sectors including construction, governments (local, state and federal agencies), foreign trade, manufacturing, retail, services, and others. Each description includes links to data products, related programs and additional information. Programs are major data collection efforts and business list and research data operations, including some funded by other agencies or sponsors. All active programs are included, as are discontinued programs of continuing interest. Links are provided to electronic data elsewhere on the site.

Bureau of Economic Analysis Economic Data

http://bea.gov/newsreleases/rels.htm

This site provides data to identify economic needs and trends that may be helpful for planning programs that support local or regional economic growth. The Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) provides detailed statistics and trends from data collected in the long and short terms. BEA has updated its interactive data service to make it easier to access and use these statistics through a common look and feel for users seeking national, international, regional or industry statistics; to make the data easier to print, save and export; to make the charting features more robust and visually appealing; and to make the data easier to share with others via a variety of tools. The old data system remains available on the right side of the cited page. Many of the tools provided are interactive and allow users to configure data specific to their context.