Factory sales of MP3 players will rise from $424 million in 2003 to nearly $6 billion in 2007, according to projected sales. Additionally, sales of digital television sets and monitors for the same period are estimated to increase from $8.7 billion to $26.3 billion.

     The transition in consumer electronics from analog to digital format is just one of the many changes taking place in American life that can be tracked in the U.S. Census Bureau’s Statistical Abstract of the United States: 2008. Published since 1878, it is the authoritative and comprehensive summary of statistics on everything from the number of public school teachers to hotel accommodations, from online shipping to marital status.

     Products are not the only things going digital; the process for acquiring them is as well. Of the $3.7 trillion in retail sales in 2005, $93 billion (2.5 percent) were recorded as e-commerce sales (Table 1019).

     In 2005, electronic shopping and mail-order houses accounted for 70 percent ($65 billion) of e-commerce sales, most notably from computer hardware (14 percent), clothing (12 percent), and drugs and beauty aids (10 percent). Motor vehicle and parts dealers made up another 18 percent of e-commerce sales (Table 1019 and 1020).

     Between 2004 and 2005, Internet publishing and broadcasting operating revenue increased by 19 percent. Revenue from online advertising space increased by 29 percent (Table 1116). Meanwhile, the number of daily newspapers continued to decline, from 1,611 in 1990 to 1,437 in 2006. Circulation fell from 62.3 million subscribers to 52.3 million (Table 1102).

     The 127th Statistical Abstract has 64 new tables. Although emphasis in this compendium is primarily given to national data, many tables present data for regions and individual states, and a smaller number for metropolitan areas and cities.

     Other highlights include:

     Motor vehicle safety

• In 2004, New York state had the lowest death rate caused by motor vehicle accidents, with 8.2 per 100,000; Mississippi had twice the national rate with 31.5 per 100,000 (Table 114).

     Prescription drugs

• In 1995, $72 billion was spent on retail prescription drug sales. The amount spent in 2006 increased to $250 billion (Table 130).

     Cosmetic surgery

• Almost 11.5 million cosmetic surgical and nonsurgical procedures were performed in the United States in 2006, with women accounting for almost 92 percent of the procedures (Table 161).

     Schoolteachers

• Of public schoolteachers who left teaching after the 2003-04 school year, 31 percent did so to retire and 25 percent to pursue a position other than that of a K-12 teacher (Table 244).

     Elected officials

• Since 1970, the number of black elected officials at all levels of government has risen from 1,469 to 9,430 in 2002. Since 1985, the number of Hispanic elected officials has risen from 3,147 to 4,932 in 2006 (Tables 402 and 403).

     Volunteerism

• In 2006, 61 million people volunteered (27 percent of the population) an average of 52 hours per year (Table 568).

     International travel

• International passengers arriving and departing from U.S. airports on nonstop commercial international flights increased 6.1 percent from 2004 to 2005 (Table 1242).

     Consumer expenditures

• In 2005, consumer expenditures averaged $46,409 per household with $5,931 for food, $426 for alcohol, $15,167 for housing, $8,344 for transportation and $2,664 for health care (Table 662). 

     Serving as the official federal summary of statistics, the Statistical Abstract of the United States is derived from many sources, both government and private. Sources of data include the Census Bureau, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Bureau of Economic Analysis, and other federal agencies and private organizations. Statistics in this edition are generally for the most recent year or period available by the summer of 2007.

     The 2008 Statistical Abstract may be obtained by calling the U.S. Government Printing Office at 202-512-1800 (ISBN No. 978-0-16-079581-7, $35 for the soft cover edition; and No. 978-0-16-079584-8, $39 for the hard cover edition <http://bookstore.gpo.gov/>).

     It also may be obtained by calling the National Technical Information Service at 800-553-6847 (PB2008965801, $35 for the softbound edition; and PB2008965301, $39 for the hardbound edition <http://www.ntis.gov/>).

     A CD-ROM version of the book will be available later.

     Every edition of the Statistical Abstract, dating from 1878, is available in PDF or zip files on the Census Bureau’s Web site at <http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/>.