September 21, 2006
Headline News
Facts for Features: American Indian and Alaska Native Heritage Month (November). (Released September 21, 2006)
Privately-Owned Housing Starts in August Were at a Seasonally Adjusted Annual Rate of 1,665,000. This Is 6.0 Percent Below the Revised July 2006 Estimate of 1,772,000. (Released September 19, 2006)
U.S. Total Business Sales for June Were $1,067.7 Billion, Up 0.6 Percent From Last Month. Month-End Inventories Were $1,347.3 Billion, Up 0.6 Percent From Last Month. (Released September 14, 2006)
U.S. Retail and Food Service Sales for August Reached $368.2 Billion, Up 0.2 Percent From the Previous Month. (Released September 14, 2006)
Final Statistics for All U.S. Firms Now Available in 2002 Survey of Business Owners: Company Summary. (Released September 14, 2006)
U.S. Information Services Sector Revenue for the Second Quarter of 2006, Not Adjusted for Seasonal Variation, Holiday or Trading-Day Differences, or Price Changes, Was $261.7 Billion, an Increase of 4.9 Percent From the First Quarter of 2006. (Released September 13, 2006)
International Deficit in Goods and Services Increased to $68.0 Billion in July From $64.8 Billion (Revised) in June, as Imports Increased and Exports Decreased. (Released September 12, 2006)
Manufacturing Corporations' Seasonally Adjusted After-Tax Profits Averaged 7.7 Cents Per Dollar of Sales for the Second Quarter of 2006, Down 0.6 (+/- 0.1) Cents From the Average of 8.3 Cents of the First Quarter of 2006. (Released September 11, 2006)
Facts For Features: Halloween (October 31, 2006). (Released September 7, 2006)
2002 Economic Census Disc 1D Now Available! (Released August 24, 2006)
Fact of the Day
23 Million Companies Generated $23 Trillion in Receipts
In 2002, the US had 23 million nonfarm U.S. businesses, employing 110.8 million persons and generating $22.6 trillion in business revenues. Firms with paid employees accounted for 5.5 million or 24.0 percent of these businesses and $21.8 trillion or 96.6 percent of their receipts.
Among the nation's 23 million businesses, 57.4 percent had men as the majority owner and accounted for 31.2 percent of the nation's $23 trillion in business revenues. Women were the majority owner in 28.2 percent of all businesses and accounted for 4.2 percent of all receipts. Equally male-/female-owned firms accounted for 11.7 percent of all businesses and 3.2 percent of all receipts.
These findings come from the recently released Company Summary data collected in the 2002 Survey of Business Owners, part of the Economic Census. This is the only report in to provide estimates of business ownership shown by the sex of the owners and by Hispanic or Latino origin and race. The data are available online in downloadable form in the American FactFinder and in PDF. More information.
Hot Tip
State, Local, and Tribal Governments Can Update 2010 Address Lists
The 1994 Census Address List Improvement Act allows local, state and tribal governments to review the addresses for their areas in the Master Address File the Census Bureau uses to administer the decennial census. Liaisons, who are subject to the same confidentiality requirements as census workers, receive address lists, maps, and address tallies and submit revisions to the Census Bureau.
A new Census Bureau web page provides an overview of this program known as the Local Update of Census Addresses (LUCA), spells out the options for review, and explains how 2010 will differ from 2000 in this regard. It also provides a calendar showing milestone dates. LUCA means governments can help the Census Bureau attain a more accurate and complete census.
Recently Released
2010 Census
Local Update of Census Addresses (LUCA): Overview. Internet site explaining the plans for LUCA prior to Census 2010.
Population
Custodial Mothers and Fathers and Their Child Support: 2003. (PDF - 1.13 mb) Report available online in PDF and in print from the Customer Services Center, providing national level 10-year trends of child-support income received by parents with children whose other parent lives elsewhere. Examines other support the children received, such as health insurance and noncash assistance.
More Than 11 Million College Students Receive Financial Aid. Read More in Financing the Future: 2001-2002. Internet files providing data on the demographic and socioeconomic characteristics of college students and the costs and financing associated with their schooling during the 2001-2002 academic year.
First and Second Waves of 2005 Data From American Community Survey. Internet files in American FactFinder showing extensive data on demographic and socioeconomic topics, including population, households, education, foreign born, etc. Data available for areas of 65,000 or more. First and second of four releases.
Income, Poverty, and Health Insurance Coverage. Data from the Current Population Survey. Internet files and PDF report (PDF - 3.12mb) presenting data collected in the 2006 and earlier Annual Social and Economic Supplement (ASEC) to the Current Population Survey. Each of the three report sections (income, poverty, and health insurance) present estimates by characteristics such as race, Hispanic origin, nativity, region, earnings of year-round full-time workers, poverty among families, and health insurance coverage of children.
Income, Earnings, and Poverty Data From the American Community Survey. Internet files and PDF report (PDF - 1mb) presenting data on income, earnings, and poverty based on the 2005 American Community Survey (ACS). The ACS has the unique ability to produce estimates of detailed socioeconomic characteristics for the United States, states, and lower levels of geography.
Latest Economic Indicators
Quarterly Financial Report for Manufacturing, Mining, and Wholesale Trade: 2nd Quarter. Press release showing up-to-date aggregate statistics on U.S. manufacturing, mining, and wholesale trade corporations.
US International Trade in Goods and Services: July 2006. Press release showing monthly exports, general imports (including data by country), and limited data on imports for consumption.
Quarterly Services Survey: 2nd Quarter 2006. Press release showing quarterly estimates of total operating revenue and the percentage of revenue by class of customer for the services industries.
Advance Monthly Sales for Retail and Food Services: August 2006. 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: July 2006. Press release showing sales, inventories, and inventories-to-sales ratios for the combined domestic activities of retailers, wholesalers, and manufacturers.
Housing Starts and Building Permits: August 2006. Press release showing data for housing starts, completions, and building permits.
Economic Census and Surveys
2002 Economic Census Disc 1D Now Available! Contains all data from Disc 1C, plus Bridge Between 2002 NAICS and 1997 NAICS; Comparative Statistics. Miscellaneous Subjects (data for all applicable sectors); Product Summary reports for mining and manufacturing; Concentration Ratios for manufacturing sector; Materials Consumed Summary reports for mining and manufacturing; Location of Manufacturing/Mining; Puerto Rico Geographic Area Series; Puerto Rico Construction; 2002 Survey of Business Owners: Hispanic; Black. DVD available only with the purchase of the 2002 Economic Census subscription series. Subscription series may be found at the Census catalog -- click "Business," then click "Economic Census CD-ROMs & DVDs."
2002 Survey of Business Owners, Company Summary. Internet tables and report in PDF showing statistics on owners by sex, Hispanic or Latino origin, and race. Data for the US, states, metro areas, counties, and places.
Housing
Census Bureau Releases 2005 American Housing Survey Data. (PDF - 4.01mb). PDF report providing national level statistics on apartments, single-family homes, manufactured/mobile homes, and vacant housing units, by age, sex, and race of householders. Provides statistics on housing and neighborhood quality, housing costs, equipment and fuels, and mortgages, and related subjects. Based on the American Housing Survey conducted by the Census Bureau and sponsored by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Eventually available in downloadable form.
What's the Rent and Does It Have Parking? Find out in Characteristics of Apartments Completed: Annual 2005. (PDF - 204kb) PDF report based on the Survey of Market Absorption focusing on the features of unfurnished units in buildings with five or more units (both apartments and condominiums).
Geography
2005-2006 School District Review Program. Internet site explaining the background of the program allowing state officials to review the Census Bureau's school district information and provide updates in boundaries, names, etc.
Reference and Compendia
Facts for Features. Collections of statistics from the Census Bureau's demographic and economic subject areas commemorate anniversaries or observances or provide background information for topics in the news:
Special Edition: 300 Million People
Special Edition: Unmarried and Single Americans Week (September 17-23)
Grandparents Day (September 10)
Hispanic Heritage Month (September 15 - Oct. 15)
American Indian and Alaska Native Heritage Month (November)
Upcoming Releases
Population
Third Wave of 2005 American Community Survey Data (household characteristics). The latest release shows housing characteristics for nearly 7,000 areas, including all congressional districts and counties, cities, and American Indian/Alaska Native areas of 65,000 population or more. Data includes types of homes, median value, heating fuel used, and plumbing facilities.
Thirty-Five Years of Tracking Hispanic Ethnicity: Analysis of Current Population Survey Data Quality for the Question on Hispanic Origin, 1969 to 2004 (Working Paper No. 80). This research examines the quality of Hispanic data from the Current Population Survey (CPS) and the consistency of CPS results with external administrative information. The paper concludes with a recommendation concerning which Hispanic groups the Census Bureau should show in future data products.
Current Population Survey Design and Methodology (Technical Paper No. 66). This document describes changes made to the Current Population Survey (CPS) since 2000. The CPS is the country's primary source of labor force statistics.
Educational Attainment in the United States: 2005. Annual Internet files from the Current Population Survey, with national and state data on educational attainment. Also included are earnings data by level of education and statistics by race and Hispanic origin.
Geographical Mobility: 2005. Internet files containing national and regional information on how often and how far people move, along with characteristics of the movers and their reasons for moving.
International Data Base Update: 2006. 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 include current estimates and moving population pyramids that project age and sex distribution to 2050.
Poverty Status of Families by Type and by U.S. Citizenship Status of the Householder: 2003. Four national-level tables from the American Community Survey present poverty data on the foreign-born by the citizenship status, year of entry, region of birth, and family type.
Economic Indicators
Advance Report on Durable Goods Manufacturers' Shipments, Inventories, and Orders: August 2006. Press release showing advance information on key business indicators. Scheduled for release September 27, 2006.
New Residential Sales: August 2006. 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 September 27, 2006.
Construction Spending (Put-in-Place): August 2006. 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). Scheduled for release October 2, 2006.
Full Report on Manufacturers' Shipments, Inventories, and Orders: August 2006. Press release showing information on key business indicators. Revised durable goods totals, in addition to nondurable goods manufacturers' shipments, inventories, and orders. Scheduled for release October 4, 2006.
Monthly Wholesale Trade: August 2006. 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 October 10, 2006.
Economic Census and Surveys
2002 Survey of Business Owners, Characteristics of Businesses and Characteristics of Business Owners. Internet tables and report in PDF showing statistics on owner's age, education level, veteran status, and primary function in the business; family- and home-based businesses; types of customers and workers; and sources of financing for expansion, capital improvements, or start-up. Data for the US and states.
Reference and Compendia
Facts for Features: Veteran's Day (November 11th). Statistics from the Census Bureau's demographic subject area relating to the national holiday honoring our military veterans. Parades and speeches occur across the country, highlighted by a national ceremony taking place at the Tomb of the Unknowns at Arlington National Cemetery.
Facts for Features: Thanksgiving Day (November 23rd) . Economic and demographic statistics pertaining to the menu of culinary delights consumed on Turkey Day.
September 08, 2006
Headline News
Census Bureau Releases First and Second Waves of 2005 Data From American Community Survey.
Facts for Features: Halloween (October 31). (Released September 7, 2006)
July 2006 Sales of Merchant Wholesalers Were $331.7 Billion, Up 0.4 Percent From Last Month. (PDF - 132kb) (Released September 7, 2006)
How Quickly Are Apartments Rented or Sold? (PDF - 204kb) (Released September 5, 2006)
Total Construction Activity for July 2006 ($1,200.0 Billion) Was 1.2 Percent Below the Revised June 2006 ($1,214.2 Billion) Figure. (Released September 1, 2006)
Census Bureau Releases 2005 American Housing Survey Data. (Released August 31, 2006)
New Orders for Manufactured Goods in July Decreased $2.4 Billion or 0.6 Percent to $405.1 Billion. (Released August 31, 2006)
Census Bureau Says 16 Million People in Path of Tropical Storm Ernesto. (Released August 29, 2006)
Income Climbs, Poverty Stabilizes, Uninsured Rate Increases. (Released August 29, 2006)
Census Bureau Media Advisory: Census Bureau to Hold News Conference on Income, Earnings, Poverty and Health Insurance Coverage Findings. (Released August 24, 2006)
More Than 11 Million College Students Receive Financial Aid. (Released August 24, 2006)
Child-Support Receipt Up, Reliance on Public Assistance Down. (Released August 23, 2006)
Fact of the Day
Scholars Pay Many Dollars, Receive Some Too
Full-time college students pay an average of $10,560 in college costs per year (tuition, books, room, and board) according to 2001-2002 data from the Survey of Income and Program Participation. Student aid averaged $6,291 and came from Pell Grants (average: $2,701), work study ($3,043), loans ($5,924), employer assistance ($3,600), among other sources. The recently released data show student characteristics, dependency status, enrollment level, marital status, work status, veteran status, and other topics.
In all, over 11 million college students (both full-timers and part-timers) received some form of financial aid outside their families to help pay for their education; about 7.5 million of these were full-time students. Higher education pays off - but costs some dollars to acquire.
Hot Tip
New Metro/Micro Page Easier to Navigate
Finding data and definitions for metropolitan and micropolitan statistical areas has just gotten much easier. The Census Bureau has redesigned the web site so that users can easily choose from helpful dropdown menus to find current and past definitions of these areas along with their component cities and counties. The redesign comes at the same time as the release of population totals for the 2005 metro and micro areas. Definitions are as of December 2005 and are the same definitions used in the recent release of data from the 2005 American Community Survey.
Incidentally, the metro area with the largest numerical increase in the first half of this decade is Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Marietta; tops in numerical increase between 2004 and 2005 is Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale. The 2005 data include several useful ranking tables for metro and micro areas.
Recently Released
Population
Custodial Mothers and Fathers and Their Child Support: 2003. (PDF - 1.13 mb) Report available online in PDF and in print from the Customer Services Center, providing national level 10-year trends of child-support income received by parents with children whose other parent lives elsewhere. Examines other support the children received, such as health insurance and noncash assistance.
More Than 11 Million College Students Receive Financial Aid. Read more in Financing the Future: 2001-2002. Internet files providing data on the demographic and socioeconomic characteristics of college students and the costs and financing associated with their schooling during the 2001-2002 academic year.
First and Second Waves of 2005 Data From American Community Survey. Internet files in American FactFinder showing extensive data on demographic and socioeconomic topics, including population, households, education, foreign born, etc. Data available for areas of 65,000 or more. First and second of four releases.
Income, Poverty, and Health Insurance Coverage. Data from the Current Population Survey. Internet files and PDF report (PDF - 3.12mb) presenting data collected in the 2006 and earlier Annual Social and Economic Supplement (ASEC) to the Current Population Survey. Each of the three report sections (income, poverty, and health insurance) present estimates by characteristics such as race, Hispanic origin, nativity, region, earnings of year-round full-time workers, poverty among families, and health insurance coverage of children.
Income, Earnings, and Poverty Data From the American Community Survey. Internet files presenting data on income, earnings, and poverty based on the 2005 American Community Survey (ACS). The ACS has the unique ability to produce estimates of detailed socioeconomic characteristics for the United States, states, and lower levels of geography.
Latest Economic Indicators
Advance Report on Durable Goods Manufacturers' Shipments, Inventories, and Orders: July
2006. (PDF - 88kb) Press release showing advance information on key business indicators.
New Residential Sales: July 2006. (PDF - 32kb) Press release reporting new one-family houses sold and for sale. Includes sales prices, months on the market, and stage of construction.
Full Report on Manufacturers' Shipments, Inventories, and Orders: July 2006. (PDF - 136kb) Press release showing information on key business indicators. Revised durable goods totals, in addition to nondurable goods manufacturers' shipments, inventories, and orders.
Construction Spending (Put-in-Place): July 2006. (PDF - 112kb) Press release showing estimates of the value of total new construction put in place by type of construction (residential and nonresidential), annual value, and by type of owner (private and public).
Monthly Wholesale Trade: July 2006. (PDF - 132kb) 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.
Economic Census and Surveys
2004 ZIP Business Patterns Data. Internet files showing business data on the number of
establishments, employment, and payroll for more than 40,000 ZIP Code areas.
Current Industrial Reports Highlight Product Data. The Census Bureau releases a series of Current Industrial Reports -- most on an annual basis, but some on a quarterly or monthly basis. These reports provide detailed data on industries, their products, exports, etc., and are available in PDF or Excel format. The 2005 annual summaries are now available online.
Housing
Census Bureau Releases 2005 American Housing Survey Data. (PDF - 4.01mb) PDF report providing national level statistics on apartments, single-family homes, manufactured/mobile homes, and vacant housing units, by age, sex, and race of householders. In addition, provides statistics on income, housing and neighborhood quality, housing costs, equipment and fuels, and size of housing units, mortgages, rent control, rent subsidies, and reasons for moving. Based on the American Housing Survey conducted by the Census Bureau and sponsored by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Housing Growth in States and Counties Shown in 2005 Estimates. Internet tables showing
housing unit annual estimates from 2000 to 2005 along with ranking tables.
How Quickly Are Apartments Rented or Sold? Find out in Characteristics of Apartments Completed: Annual 2005. (PDF - 204kb) PDF report based on the Survey of Market Absorption measures how soon privately financed, nonsubsidized, unfurnished units in buildings with five or more units are rented or sold (absorbed) after completion.
Reference and Compendia
Facts for Features. Collections of statistics from the Census Bureau's demographic and economic subject areas commemorate anniversaries or observances or provide background information for topics in the news:
Special Edition: 300 Million People
Special Edition: Unmarried and Single Americans Week (September 17-23)
Grandparents Day (September 10)
Hispanic Heritage Month (September 15 - Oct. 15)
Upcoming Releases
Population
Thirty-Five Years of Tracking Hispanic Ethnicity: Analysis of Current Population Survey Data Quality for the Question on Hispanic Origin, 1969 to 2004 (Working Paper No. 80). This research examines the quality of Hispanic data from the Current Population Survey (CPS) and the consistency of CPS results with external administrative information. The paper concludes with a recommendation concerning which Hispanic groups the Census Bureau should show in future data products.
Educational Attainment in the United States: 2005. Annual Internet files from the Current Population Survey, with national and state data on educational attainment. Also included are earnings data by level of education and statistics by race and Hispanic origin.
Geographical Mobility: 2005. Internet files containing national and regional information on how often and how far people move, along with characteristics of the movers and their reasons for moving.
International Data Base Update: 2006. Demographic indicators such as infant mortality, life expectancy, fertility rates, net migration and population growth for 228 countries and areas of the world include current estimates and moving population pyramids that project age and sex distribution to 2050.
Poverty Status of Families by Type and by U.S. Citizenship Status of the Householder: 2003. Four national-level tables from the American Community Survey present poverty data on the foreign-born by the citizenship status, year of entry, region of birth, and family type.
Economic Indicators
Quarterly Financial Report for Manufacturing, Mining, and Wholesale Trade: 2nd Quarter. Press release showing up-to-date aggregate statistics on U.S. manufacturing, mining, and wholesale trade corporations. Scheduled for release September 11, 2006.
US International Trade in Goods and Services: July 2006. Press release showing monthly exports, general imports (including data by country), and limited data on imports for consumption. Scheduled for release September 12, 2006.
Quarterly Services Survey: 2nd Quarter 2006: 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 September 13, 2006.
Advance Monthly Sales for Retail and Food Services: August 2006. 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 September 14, 2006.
Manufacturing and Trade: Inventories and Sales: July 2006. Press release showing sales, inventories, and inventories-to-sales ratios for the combined domestic activities of retailers, wholesalers, and manufacturers. Scheduled for release September 14, 2006.
Housing Starts and Building Permits: August 2006. Press release showing data for housing starts, completions, and building permits. Scheduled for release September 19, 2006.
Economic Census and Surveys
2002 Survey of Business Owners, Company Summary. Internet tables and report in PDF showing statistics on owners by sex, Hispanic or Latino origin, and race. Data for the US, states, metro areas, counties, and places.
2002 Survey of Business Owners, Characteristics of Businesses and Characteristics of Business Owners. Internet tables and report in PDF showing statistics on owner's age, education level, veteran status, and primary function in the business; family- and home-based businesses; types of customers and workers; and sources of financing for expansion, capital improvements, or start-up. Data for the US and states.
