November 30, 2007
Headline News
Sales of New One-Family Houses in October 2007 Were at a Seasonally Adjusted Annual Rate of 728,000. This Is 1.7 Percent Above the Revised September 2007 Figure of 716,000. (Released November 29, 2007)
Securities and Commodities Continue Strong Growth, Adding an Average $1.8 Billion of Revenue a Week in 2006. (Released November 29, 2007)
New Orders for Manufactured Durable Goods in October Decreased $0.9 Billion or 0.4 Percent to $214.5 Billion. (Released November 28, 2007)
Profiles of Older Workers: 2004 - Hawaii. (Released November 26, 2007)
Privately-Owned Housing Starts in October 2007 Were at a Seasonally Adjusted Annual Rate of 1,229,000. This Is 3.0 Percent Above the Revised September 2007 estimate of 1,193,000. (Released November 20, 2007)
Sign Up Early!
Understanding Federal Statistics (UFS) is a four-day, computer-based workshop offered by the U.S. Census Bureau. The February 2008 workshop will be held at the training facilities of the Graduate School, USDA in Washington, DC. Openings are available for the February 2008 workshop. Visit our web site for course and registration information (under Registration Forms, click "pdf" or "txt").
Fact of the Day
Notice a Change on the Census Home Page?
The 2010 Census is less than three years away, so we've replaced the Census 2000 logo with the 2010 Census icon on our home page. You can access the latest news and information about the 2010 Census from this icon. Still need information from Census 2000? Information previously listed in the Census 2000 section is available by clicking on the Census 2000 link.
Hot Tip
2007 Economic Census
More than 4 million businesses across the country will receive questionnaires in December for the 2007 Economic Census. Every five years, the economic census provides the most comprehensive, detailed and authoritative facts about the American economy. The forms are to be completed and returned, either electronically or by mail, by February 12, 2008. See the Economic Census website for more information.
Recently Released
Population
Census Atlas of the United States. High-quality reference book (approximately 350 pages) including maps, figures, and text selected and organized to increase public understanding of population and housing characteristics across the U.S. Provides a collection of information emphasizing spatial distribution and patterns from 1790 to 2000. The Census Bureau has not published a statistical atlas since the 1920s. To order, contact the Government Printing Office at 1-866-512-1800. (Price: $165, ISBN: 9781587690105)
Most Popular Surnames: 2000. Online tabulations of the most popular last names in the United States.
Latest Economic Indicators
Housing Starts and Building Permits: October 2007. Press release showing data for housing starts, completions, and building permits.
Advance Report on Durable Goods Manufactures' Shipments, Inventories, and Orders: October 2007. Press release showing advance information on key business indicators.
New Residential Sales: October 2007. Press release reporting new one-family houses sold and for sale. Includes sales prices, months on the market, and stage of construction.
Economic Census and Surveys
2006 Service Annual Survey: Securities, Commodity Contracts, and Other Financial Investments. Financial industry revenue hit $400 billion in 2005 - could it surpass that in 2006? Did investment banking generate more revenue than the brokerage industry? How did financial advice firms compare? This report, available online in PDF [22.4 KB] and XLS formats, tracks the rapidly changing revenue for firms that make up the securities section of the financial industry.
Older Worker Profiles. Report (it will be released for each of over 30 states) providing a detailed picture of workers 55 and older at the county and metropolitan area levels for 2004. Based on data from the Local Employment Dynamics program. The report highlights the age of the states' work force, job gains and losses, industries in which older workers are concentrated, job stability, and earnings.
The following states are available as of the publish date of this newsletter:
Iowa (PDF - 1.31 MB)
Maine (PDF - 1.45 MB)
Vermont (PDF - 762 KB)
Indiana (PDF - 1.53 MB)
Arkansas (PDF - 1.81MB)
Hawaii (PDF - 558 KB)
Governments
2006 State Government Finances. Online data tables providing preliminary finance data for 18 state governments (Alabama, Alaska, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Idaho, Kansas, Maine, Michigan, Mississippi, Montana, Nevada, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Carolina, and Tennessee). Data for all 50 states will be available in December 2007.
Housing
How Fast Are Apartments Being Rented or Purchased? Find out in Market Absorption of Apartments Second Quarter 2007 Absorptions, Completions in Second Quarter 2007. Available online in PDF or as print-on-demand report from the Customer Services Center. Shows data for the United States and regions concerning the rate at which non-subsidized, privately financed, unfurnished units in buildings with five or more units are rented or sold (that is, absorbed) after completion.
Reference and Compendia
American Indian and Alaska Native Heritage Month (November)
Upcoming Releases
Population
Dynamics of Economic Well-Being: Fluctuations in the United States Income Distribution, 2001-2003. Report available online examining how households moved up and down in income in relation to others over a three-year period.
International Data Base Update: 2007. Internet files showing demographic indicators such as infant mortality, life expectancy, fertility rates, net migration, and population growth for 228 countries and areas of the world. Includes current estimates and moving population pyramids that project age and sex distributions to 2050.
New Year's Day Population. The Census Bureau rings in the new year with its annual projection of the nation's population for January 1, 2008. The release includes birth, death, and net international migration rates.
State Population Estimates: July 1, 2007. Arizona was the nation's fastest-growing state in 2006, breaking Nevada's long-standing grip on the title. Internet tables showing July 1, 2007, population estimates and components of change for the nation, states, and Puerto Rico, will reveal which state's population is growing the quickest and the slowest.
Government
2006 State and Local Government Employee-Retirement Systems. Annual data on revenues, expenditures, financial assets, and membership for public employee-retirement systems. Data are shown for individual retirement systems as well as aggregately at the national, state, and local levels.
Housing
2006 State and County Housing Unit Estimates. Updated estimates of the nation's housing stock at the national, state, and county levels for 2006.
Economic Census and Surveys
2006 Service Annual Survey: Information Sector. Does the movie industry make more off admissions or concessions? Are Internet publishers doing better than newspapers? Has cable TV revenues surpassed broadcast television revenues? Find the answers in these online tables.
2006 Service Annual Survey: Health Care and Social Assistance. Who's the bigger revenue earner for the health care industry; doctors, dentists, chiropractors, optometrists or podiatrists? What role do hospitals play as a revenue source? How about elderly care facilities? Read up on all the economic details on health care and social assistance.
2006 Service Annual Survey: Truck Transportation, Couriers and Messengers, and Warehousing and Storage. In 2005, U.S. commercial trucks traveled 90 billion miles - the equivalent of nearly 1,300 trips to Mars and back. This report reveals updates on revenue and expense estimates for firms that haul, warehouse, and deliver America's freight.
2007 Capital Spending Report: U.S. Capital Spending Patterns, 1999-2005. This first look at capital expenditure patterns from 1999 to 2005 reveals data about firms with and without employees, expenditures for structures and equipment, and expenditures for major industry sectors. The data comes from the Annual Capital Expenditures Survey.
Economic Indicators
Manufacturers' Shipments, Inventories, and Orders: October 2007. Press release showing information on key business indicators. Shows revised durable goods totals, in addition to nondurable goods manufacturers' shipments, inventories, and orders. Scheduled for release December 5, 2007.
Quarterly Financial Report: Manufacturing, Mining, and Wholesale Trade: 3rd Quarter 2007. Press release showing up-to-date aggregate statistics on U.S. manufacturing, mining, and wholesale trade corporations. Scheduled for release December 10, 2007.
Monthly Wholesale Trade: October 2007. Press release showing estimates for sales, inventories on a non-LIFO ("last in-first out") basis, and stock-sales ratios for merchant wholesalers by three-digit major kind-of-business groups. Scheduled for release December 11, 2007.
US International Trade in Goods and Services: October 2007. Press release showing monthly exports, general imports (including data by country), and limited data on imports for consumption. Scheduled for release December 12, 2007.
Quarterly Services Survey: 3rd Quarter 2007. Press release showing quarterly estimates of total operating revenue and the percentage of revenue by class of customer for the services industries. Scheduled for release December 12, 2007.
Advance Monthly Sales for Retail and Food Services: November 2007. Press release presenting advance monthly estimates of retail store sales by kind-of-business groups. Report includes seasonally adjusted estimates and percentage changes for major kind-of-business groups. Scheduled for release December 13, 2007.
Manufacturing and Trade: Inventories and Sales: October 2007. Press release showing sales, inventories, and inventories-to-sales ratios for the combined domestic activities of retailers, wholesalers, and manufacturers. Scheduled for release December 13, 2007.
Reference and Compendia
Facts for Features: 50th Daytona 500. NASCAR's 500-mile stock-car race that began in 1959 at Daytona International Speedway has evolved into a worldwide phenomenon. A global TV audience of more than 50 million is expected to watch the Feb. 17 race, with the winner pocketing about $1.5 million. To commemorate this automotive milestone, the Census Bureau has compiled a collection of facts and figures relating to our nation, Florida and Daytona Beach during the past 50 years.
Facts for Features: Valentine's Day. The year's most romantic edition features a collection of statistics pertaining to this special day for lovers. Data are provided on chocolates, flowers and jewelry, among other topics.
Statistical Abstract of the United States: 2008. How have the revenues for MP3 players fared over the past four years? How do they compare with digital televisions? Published since 1878, 127th edition of the Statistical Abstract includes dozens of new tables and statistics on thousands of facets of American life.
November 15, 2007
Headline News
U.S. Total Business Sales for July Were $1,126.0 Billion, Up 0.6 Percent From Last Month. (Released November 14, 2007)
U.S. Retail and Food Service Sales for October Reached $380.3 Billion, an Increase of 0.2 Percent From the Previous Month. (Released November 14, 2007)
The Nation's International Deficit in Goods and Services Decreased to $56.5 Billion in September From $56.8 Billion (Revised) in August. (Released November 9, 2007)
Facts for Features: The 2007 Holiday Season. (Released November 7, 2007)
HTML version | PDF version (107 KB)
September 2007 Sales of Merchant Wholesalers Were $366.8 Billion, Up 1.3 Percent From Last Month. (Released November 7, 2007)
Shipped Goods in U.S. Manufacturing Reaches $5 Trillion in 2006. (Released November 7, 2007)
New Orders for Manufactured Goods in September Increased $0.7 Billion or 0.2 Percent to $420.7 Billion. (Released November 2, 2007)
Sign Up Early!
Understanding Federal Statistics (UFS) is a four-day, computer-based workshop offered by the U.S. Census Bureau. The February 2008 workshop will be held at the training facilities of the Graduate School, USDA in Washington, DC. Openings are available for the February 2008 workshop. Visit our web site for course and registration information (under Registration Forms, click "pdf" or "txt").
Fact of the Day
Here's What We Do!
The Decennial Census has been referred to as the largest peacetime mobilization in U.S history. While a task of that magnitude might seem enough to monopolize all of our time, we are also responsible for conducting nearly one hundred other censuses and surveys each year! For a list of those censuses and surveys, at the Census Bureau home page, click American FactFinder, then click, "About the Data."
Hot Tip
American FactFinder Provides Data From Many Sources
Don't overlook the various data programs which can provide you with information through our American FactFinder data engine. From the Census Bureau home page, click American FactFinder. On the left hand side, click "Data Sets." You'll see six different options from which to tabulate data, ranging from our decennial census, to our Annual Economic Surveys. Get data from each of the programs!
Recently Released
Population
A Child's Day: 2004. This report marks 10 years of data that examine the well-being of children and their daily activities. These 30 tables are based on the Census Bureau's Survey of Income and Program Participation and examine everything from mealtime habits to academic experience.
Census Atlas of the United States. High-quality reference book (approximately 350 pages) including maps, figures, and text selected and organized to increase public understanding of population and housing characteristics across the U.S. Provides a systematic collection of information emphasizing spatial distribution and patterns from 1790 to 2000. The Census Bureau has not published a statistical atlas since the 1920s. To order, contact the Government Printing Office at 1-866-512-1800. (Price: $165, ISBN: 9781587690105)
Latest Economic Indicators
Manufacturers' Shipments, Inventories, and Orders: September 2007. Press release showing information on key business indicators. Shows revised durable goods totals, in addition to nondurable goods manufacturers' shipments, inventories, and orders.
Monthly Wholesale Trade: September 2007. Press release showing estimates for sales, inventories on a non-LIFO ("last in-first out") basis, and stock-sales ratios for merchant wholesalers by three-digit major kind-of-business groups.
U.S. International Trade in Goods and Services: September 2007. Press release showing monthly exports, general imports (including data by country), and limited data on imports for consumption.
Advance Monthly Sales for Retail and Food Services: October 2007. Press release presenting advance monthly estimates of retail store sales by kind-of-business groups. Report includes seasonally adjusted estimates and percentage changes for major kind-of-business groups.
Manufacturing and Trade: Inventories and Sales: September 2007. Press release showing sales, inventories, and inventories-to-sales ratios for the combined domestic activities of retailers, wholesalers, and manufacturers.
Economic Census and Surveys
Shipped Goods in U.S. Manufacturing Reaches $5 Trillion in 2006. National and state level data from the 2006 Annual Survey of Manufactures detail activity in the manufacturing industries for 2006 and 2005. Provides sample estimates for all manufacturing establishments with one or more paid employees.
Older Worker Profiles. Report (it will be released for each of over 30 states) providing a detailed picture of workers 55 and older at the county and metropolitan area levels for 2004. Based on data from the Local Employment Dynamics program. The report highlights the age of the states' work force, job gains and losses, industries in which older workers are concentrated, job stability, and earnings. The following states are available as of the publish date of this newsletter:
Iowa (PDF - 1.31 MB)
Maine (PDF - 1.45 MB)
Vermont (PDF - 762 KB)
Indiana (PDF - 1.53 MB)
Arkansas (PDF - 1.81MB)
Reference and Compendia
American Indian and Alaska Native Heritage Month (November)
Upcoming Releases
Population
International Data Base Update: 2007. Internet files showing demographic indicators such as infant mortality, life expectancy, fertility rates, net migration, and population growth for 228 countries and areas of the world. Includes current estimates and moving population pyramids that project age and sex distributions to 2050.
Government
2006 State and Local Government Employee-Retirement Systems. Annual data on revenues, expenditures, financial assets, and membership for public employee-retirement systems. Data are shown for individual retirement systems as well as aggregately at the national, state, and local levels.
Housing
2006 State and County Housing Unit Estimates. Updated estimates of the nation's housing stock at the national, state, and county levels for 2006.
Economic Census and Surveys
2006 Service Annual Survey: Truck Transportation, Couriers and Messengers, and Warehousing and Storage. Updates on revenue and expense estimates for firms that haul, warehouse and deliver America's freight.
Economic Indicators
Housing Starts and Building Permits: October 2007. Press release showing data for housing starts, completions, and building permits. Scheduled for release November 20, 2007.
Advance Report on Durable Goods Manufactures' Shipments, Inventories, and Orders: October 2007. Press release showing advance information on key business indicators. Scheduled for release November 28, 2007.
New Residential Sales: October 2007. Press release reporting new one-family houses sold and for sale. Includes sales prices, months on the market, and stage of construction. Scheduled for release November 29, 2007.
November 02, 2007
Headline News
Total Construction Activity for September 2007 ($1,162.8 Billion) Was 0.3 Percent Above the Revised August 2007 ($1,159.2 Billion) Figure. (Released October 31, 2007)
Parents More Active in Raising Their Children; Children Get Less Television Time. (Released (October 31, 2007)
Facts for Features: American Indian and Alaska Native Heritage Month (November 2007). (Released October 29, 2007)
HTML Version | PDF Version (62 KB)
The Homeownership Rate in the Third Quarter 2007 (68.2 Percent) Was Lower Than the Third Quarter 2006 Rate (69.0 Percent). (Released October 26, 2007)
Sales of New One-Family Houses in September 2007 Were at a Seasonally Adjusted Annual Rate of 770,000. (Released October 25, 2007)
New Orders for Manufactured Durable Goods in September Decreased $3.8 Billion or 1.7 Percent to $214.5 Billion. (Released October 25, 2007)
Fact of the Day
A Day in the Life of a Child
A Child's Day: 2004 examines the well-being of children younger than 18 and provides an updated look into how they spend their days. This series of 30 tables published by the U.S. Census Bureau is based on the Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP) and addresses children's living arrangements, family characteristics, time spent in child care, academic experience, extracurricular activities, and more. These days, some teenagers are finding that their parents are playing a more active role in their lives. In 2004, nearly 47 percent of all teenagers had restrictions on how much television they watched, what programs they watched, and what time they watched television, up from only 40 percent with television restrictions 10 years earlier.
Hot Tip
Industry Focus
What are the hot industries in your area? Who works in these industries? Industry Focus (at the Local Employments Dynamics website, click "Industry Focus" in the QuickLinks section) is a powerful analytic tool that quickly reports the top industries for your area, age group, or gender, based on eight quarterly workforce indicators. It is one of the three tools that the Local Employment Dynamics (LED) program offers for use by economic developers, employers, workers, transportation planners, and workforce investment boards.
Recently Released
Population
A Child's Day: 2004. This report marks 10 years of data that examine the well-being of children and their daily activities. These 30 tables are based on the Census Bureau's Survey of Income and Program Participation and examine everything from mealtime habits to academic experience.
Census Atlas of the United States. High-quality reference book (approximately 350 pages) including maps, figures, and text selected and organized to increase public understanding of population and housing characteristics across the U.S. Provides a systematic collection of information emphasizing spatial distribution and patterns from 1790 to 2000. The Census Bureau has not published a statistical atlas since the 1920s. To order, contact the Government Printing Office at 1-866-512-1800. (Price: $165, ISBN: 9781587690105)
Geographical Mobility: 2006. Data available online as 34 tables highlighting migration patterns and characteristics of movers in the United States, including how far people move, how often and why, among others. Data are from the Annual Social and Economic Supplement to the Current Population Survey.
OnTheMap Version 2. The Census Bureau has released the last wave of OnTheMap Version 2, bringing the number of states available in this tool to 42. OnTheMap is a web-based, interactive mapping application that shows where people work and where workers live on maps, with companion reports on their age, earnings and industry distributions. It provides timely data for labor market, economic development, transportation, emergency management, and other potential applications. This wave adds nine states: Alaska, California, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, North Dakota, Rhode Island, Utah, and Wyoming.
Latest Economic Indicators
Advance Report on Durable Goods Manufacturers' Shipments, Inventories, and Orders: September 2007. Press release showing advance information on key business indicators.
New Residential Sales: September 2007. Press release reporting new one-family houses sold and for sale. Includes sales prices, months on the market, and stage of construction.
Housing Vacancies: 3rd Quarter 2007. Press release showing rental and homeowner vacancy rates and characteristics of units available for occupancy.
Construction Spending Put-in-Place: September 2007. Press release showing estimates of the value of total new construction put-in-place by type of construction (residential and
non-residential), annual value, and by type of owner (private and public).
Economic Census and Surveys
Older Worker Profiles. Report (to be released on a flow basis for over 30 states) providing a detailed picture of workers 55 and older at the county and metropolitan area levels for 2004.
Based on data from the Local Employment Dynamics program. The report highlights the age of the states' work force, job gains and losses, industries in which older workers are concentrated, job stability, and earnings. The following states are available as of the publish date of this newsletter:
Iowa (PDF - 1.31 MB)
Maine (PDF - 1.45 MB)
Vermont (PDF - 762 KB)
Indiana (PDF - 1.53 MB)
Governments
Consolidated Federal Funds Report: 2005 and Federal Aid to States for Fiscal Year 2005. The Consolidated Federal Funds Report (CFFR) (PDF - 1.61 MB) is an annual report on the geographic distribution of federal funds in the United States, including detail down to the county and municipality level. It covers direct payments, grants, procurement contracts, salaries and wages, loans, and insurance. Amounts given can be either expenditures or obligations. The Federal Aid to States (FAS) (PDF - 1.29 MB) contains federal agency and program-level data on grants to state and local governments.
2006 State and Local Government Employee Retirement Systems. Annual data on revenues, expenditures, financial assets and membership for public employee retirement systems. Data are shown for individual retirement systems, as well as aggregately at the national, state and local levels.
Housing
Home Equity Lines of Credit - Who Uses This Source of Credit? Report profiles single-family homeowners who used home equity lines of credit in 2001.
Reference and Compendia
American Indian and Alaska Native Heritage Month (November).
Upcoming Releases
Population
International Data Base Update: 2007. Internet files showing demographic indicators such as infant mortality, life expectancy, fertility rates, net migration, and population growth for 228
countries and areas of the world. Includes current estimates and moving population pyramids that project age and sex distributions to 2050.
Government
2006 State and Local Government Employee-Retirement Systems. Annual data on revenues, expenditures, financial assets, and membership for public employee-retirement systems. Data are shown for individual retirement systems as well as aggregately at the national, state, and local levels.
Housing
2006 State and County Housing Unit Estimates. Updated estimates of the nation's housing stock at the national, state, and county levels for 2006.
Economic Indicators
Manufacturers' Shipments, Inventories, and Orders: September 2007. Press release showing information on key business indicators. Shows revised durable goods totals, in addition to nondurable goods manufacturers' shipments, inventories, and orders. Scheduled for release November 2, 2007.
Monthly Wholesale Trade: September 2007. Press release showing estimates for sales, inventories on a non-LIFO ("last in-first out") basis, and stock-sales ratios for merchant
wholesalers by three-digit major kind-of-business groups. Scheduled for release November 7, 2007.
US International Trade in Goods and Services: September 2007. Press release showing monthly exports, general imports (including data by country), and limited data on imports for
consumption. Scheduled for release November 9, 2007.
Advance Monthly Sales for Retail and Food Services: October 2007. Press release presenting advance monthly estimates of retail store sales by kind-of-business groups. Report includes seasonally adjusted estimates and percentage changes for major kind-of-business groups. Scheduled for release November 14, 2007.
Manufacturing and Trade: Inventories and Sales: September 2007. Press release showing sales, inventories, and inventories-to-sales ratios for the combined domestic activities of retailers, wholesalers, and manufacturers. Scheduled for release November 14, 2007.
Reference and Compendia
Facts for Features:
Holiday Season. The Census Bureau presents numerous facts and figures related to the holidays this time of year, a time of gathering and celebrating with friends and family,
gift-giving, and general cheer and rejoicing.
