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Economic Indicators

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New Residential Construction icon

New Residential Construction

Privately-owned housing starts in November 2020 were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,547,000. This is 1.2 percent (+/- 8.6%)* above the revised October 2020 estimate of 1,528,000.

Released:
December 17, 2020

Next Release:
January 21, 2021

November 2020

+1.2*
% change

October 2020 (r)

+6.3*
% change

Manufacturing and Trade Inventories and Sales icon

Manufacturing and Trade Inventories and Sales

U.S. total business end-of-month inventories for October 2020 were $1,948.7 billion, up 0.7 percent (+/- 0.1 percent) from last month. U.S. total business sales were $1,482.3 billion, up 0.9 percent (+/-0.1 percent) from last month.

Released:
December 16, 2020

Next Release:
January 15, 2021

October 2020

+0.7
% change in Inventories

September 2020 (r)

+0.8
% change in Inventories

Advance Monthly Sales for Retail and Food Services icon

Advance Monthly Sales for Retail and Food Services

U.S. retail and food services sales for November 2020 were $546.5 billion, a decrease of 1.1 percent (+/-0.5%) from the previous month.

Released:
December 16, 2020

Next Release:
January 15, 2021

November 2020

-1.1
% change

October 2020 (r)

-0.1*
% change

Quarterly Services Survey icon

Quarterly Services Survey

The estimate of U.S. selected services total revenue for the third quarter of 2020, adjusted for seasonal variation but not for price changes, was $3,929.9 billion, an increase of 7.8 percent (+/- 0.4 percent) from the second quarter of 2020 and down 3.9 percent (+/- 0.2 percent) from the third quarter of 2019.

Released:
December 10, 2020

Next Release:
February 19, 2021

3rd Qtr 2020

+7.8
% change

2nd Qtr 2020 (r)

-9.2
% change

Monthly Wholesale Trade icon

Monthly Wholesale Trade

October 2020 sales of merchant wholesalers were $496.6 billion, up 1.8 percent (+/- 0.4 percent) from last month. End-of-month inventories were $649.0 billion, up 1.1 percent (+/- 0.4 percent) from last month.

Released:
December 9, 2020

Next Release:
January 8, 2021

October 2020

+1.1
% change in Inventories

September 2020 (r)

+0.9
% change in Inventories

Quarterly Financial Report - Retail Trade icon

Quarterly Financial Report - Retail Trade

Seasonally adjusted after-tax profits for retail corporations with assets of $50 million and over were $43.5 billion for the third quarter 2020 (the 3 months ending October 31, 2020), up $4.7 (+/- 0.2) billion from second quarter 2020 (the 3 months ending July 31, 2020).

Released:
December 8, 2020

Next Release:
March 22, 2021

3rd Qtr 2020

+4.7
$ billion

2nd Qtr 2020 (r)

+24.0
$ billion

Quarterly Financial Report - Manufacturing, Mining, Wholesale Trade, and Selected Service Industries icon

Quarterly Financial Report - Manufacturing, Mining, Wholesale Trade, and Selected Service Industries

Manufacturing corporations' seasonally adjusted after-tax profits were $148.4 billion for the third quarter of 2020, up $100.3 (+/- 0.8) billion from second quarter of 2020.

Released:
December 8, 2020

Next Release:
March 22, 2021

3rd Qtr 2020

+100.3
$ billion

2nd Qtr 2020 (r)

-65.1
$ billion

Manufacturers' Shipments, Inventories, and Orders icon

Manufacturers' Shipments, Inventories, and Orders

New orders for manufactured goods in October increased $4.9 billion or 1.0 percent to $480.8 billion.

Released:
December 4, 2020

Next Release:
January 6, 2021

October 2020

+1.0°
% change

September 2020 (r)

+1.3°
% change

U.S. International Trade in Goods and Services icon

U.S. International Trade in Goods and Services

The nation's international trade deficit in goods and services increased to $63.1 billion in October from $62.1 billion in September (revised), as imports increased more than exports.

Released:
December 4, 2020

Next Release:
January 7, 2021

October 2020

63.1°
$ billion

September 2020 (r)

62.1°
$ billion

Construction Spending icon

Construction Spending

Total construction activity for October 2020 ($1,438.5 billion) was 1.3 percent (+/-1.0 percent) above the revised September 2020 ($1,420.4 billion).

Released:
December 1, 2020

Next Release:
January 4, 2021

October 2020

+1.3
% change

September 2020 (r)

-0.5*
% change

New Residential Sales icon

New Residential Sales

Sales of new single-family houses in October 2020 were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 999,000. This is 0.3 percent (+/- 13.6%)* below the revised September 2020 estimate of 1,002,000.

Released:
November 25, 2020

Next Release:
December 23, 2020

October 2020

-0.3*
% change

September 2020 (r)

+0.1*
% change

Advance Monthly Wholesale Inventories icon

Advance Monthly Wholesale Inventories

October end-of-month inventories were $646.2 billion, up 0.9 percent (+/- 0.4 percent) from last month.

Released:
November 25, 2020

Next Release:
December 30, 2020

October 2020

+0.9
% change in Inventories

September 2020 (r)

+0.7
% change in Inventories

Advance U.S. International Trade in Goods icon

Advance U.S. International Trade in Goods

The advance international trade deficit in goods increased to $80.3 billion in October from $79.4 billion in September as imports increased more than exports.

Released:
November 25, 2020

Next Release:
December 30, 2020

October 2020

80.3°
$ billion

September 2020

79.4°
$ billion

Advance Report on Durable Goods Manufacturers' Shipments, Inventories, and Orders icon

Advance Report on Durable Goods Manufacturers' Shipments, Inventories, and Orders

New orders for manufactured durable goods in October increased $3.0 billion or 1.3 percent to $240.8 billion.

Released:
November 25, 2020

Next Release:
December 24, 2020

October 2020

+1.3°
% change

September 2020 (r)

+2.1°
% change

Advance Monthly Retail Inventories icon

Advance Monthly Retail Inventories

October 2020 end-of-month inventories were $612.2 billion, up 0.8 percent (+/- 0.2%) from last month.

Released:
November 25, 2020

Next Release:
December 30, 2020

October 2020

+0.8
% change in Inventories

September 2020 (r)

+1.7
% change in Inventories

Rental Vacancy Rate icon

Rental Vacancy Rate

The rental vacancy rate in the third quarter 2020, 6.4 percent, was lower than the rate in the third quarter 2019. The rental vacancy rate in the South was lower than the third quarter 2019 rate. The rental vacancy rates in the Northeast, Midwest, and West were not statistically different from the third quarter 2019 rates.

Released:
October 27, 2020

Next Release:
February 2, 2021

3rd Qtr 2020

+6.4
percent

3rd Qtr 2019

+6.8
percent

Homeownership Rate icon

Homeownership Rate

The homeownership rate in the third quarter 2020, 67.4 percent, was higher than the rate in the third quarter 2019. The homeownership rates in the Midwest, South, and West were higher than the third quarter 2019 rates. The homeownership rate in the Northeast was not statistically different from the third quarter 2019 rate.

Released:
October 27, 2020

Next Release:
February 2, 2021

3rd Qtr 2020

+67.4
percent

3rd Qtr 2019

+64.8
percent

Business Formation Statistics icon

Business Formation Statistics

Total U.S. Business Applications were 1,566,373 in the third quarter of 2020, up 77.4% from second quarter 2020.

Released:
October 14, 2020

Next Release:
January 14, 2021

3rd Qtr 2020

+77.4°
% change

2nd Qtr 2020 (r)

+4.8°
% change

(*) The 90% confidence interval includes zero. The Census Bureau does not have sufficient statistical evidence to conclude that the actual change is different from zero.

(°) Statistical significance is not applicable or not measurable for these surveys. The Manufacturers’ Shipments, Inventories and Orders estimates are not based on a probability sample, so we can neither measure the sampling error of these estimates nor compute confidence intervals.

(r) Revised.

All estimates are seasonally adjusted except for the Rental Vacancy Rate and Home Ownership Rate. None of the estimates are adjusted for price changes.

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