Most statistics regarding business in the United States are compiled by the Bureau of Labor Statistics and the U.S. Census (the last economic census was conducted in 2002). For statistics relating to demographics, please see the Demographics section.

On the Web:

Federal Statistics:

Bureau of Economic Analysis  Part of the Department of Commerce, BEA prepares estimates on key national, international, and regional aspects of the U.S. economy.

Bureau of Labor Statistics  Data and information on the labor force in the U.S. Links to multiple news releases, including Consumer Price Indexes, Producer Price Indexes.

Census of Manufacturers  Final Industry Series, Subject Series, and Geographic Area Series.

County Business Patterns  Detailed geographic, industry, and other information for U.S. business establishments.

Economics Statistics Briefing Room  Federal economic indicators. Provides links to information produced by a number of Federal agencies on production, income, sales, employment, money, credit, and much more.  Check for the links on the sidebar menu.

FedStats  Statistics from 70+ Federal agencies. Arranged alphabetically by topic; searchable by keyword.

U.S. Department of Transportation  National Transportation Data Archive has highway statistics, airline on-time statistics and state freight-transportation profiles.

State & Local Statistics:

California Division of Labor Statistics and Research  Contains statistics on the labor market by subject and by county, labor force and employment, health and welfare, occupational injuries, and links to Federal sources of information.

Demographic and Economic Profile of Santa Monica  Prepared by City of Santa Monica, Economic Development Division and Santa Monica Chamber of Commerce, the data tables cover population, housing, employment, tourism, education, etc. Includes projections.

International Statistics:

ClickZStats  Formerly known as CyberAtlas, this site makes available free summaries of market research reports and polls conducted by the best known firms such as Forrester, Media Metrix, Nielsen, the Gartner Group and Intelliquest.  The user can browse a variety of statistical surveys using the "Stats Toolbox" (sidebar menu). Choose one of the categories to retrieve the list of market research studies classified under that category.  Keyword searching is also available.

Handbook of International Economic Statistics  Basic worldwide statistics for comparing the economic performance of major countries and regions. Data is for 1970, 1980, and individual years in the period 1990-98.

WebStat  A database of statistical sources available via the Internet. The material is classified by subject field and by country. The search result contains both a description of the source and a direct link to it. The database is compiled and maintained by the Library of Statistics Finland.

World Bank Data  The World Bank's data and statistics division includes data by topic, data by country, and current highlights such as economic indicators. Focus is on economic development trends and indicators on a country by country basis. Online databases provide additional data for a fee. 

World Factbook  Produced by CIA's Directorate of Intelligence; a comprehensive resource of facts and statistics on more than 250 countries and other entities.

Meta Sites:

University of Michigan Documents Center  Excellent collection to links on all types of statistical sources including business and industry, foreign trade, consumers, price indexes, labor, energy, finance, transportation, etc.

In the Library:

Many of the statistical resources cited in the Demographics section contain general as well as demographic statistics.

• CRB Commodity Yearbook 
  Tables, charts, and graphs covering over 100 commodities and futures; articles; seasonal patterns and historical data.
   
• Federal Reserve Bulletin 
  Federal finance, interest rates, consumer credit, exchange rates, etc. Current statistics on U.S. banking and money.
   
• Monthly Labor Review 
  Statistics on employment, hours, earnings, consumer and producer price indexes, etc.
   
• Survey of Current Business 
  Perhaps the most important single source for current business statistics. Covers general business indicators, domestic trade, employment and earnings, finance, industries, etc. Also contains "Business Cycle Indicator" charts and publishes special statistical reports. A biennial supplement, Business Statistics, provides a historical record of the statistics in the monthly Survey.
   
• World Economic Outlook 
  Published by the International Monetary Fund. Surveys short term prospects and long term trends in world economy. Statistics on production, import, export, employment, etc.

Go to the Library catalog  

On the Library network:

• Associations Unlimited
  Many associations and trade groups publish statistics and studies for their particular industry. Associations Unlimited locates organizations by name, subject, or keyword and provides full contact information along with the organization's publications.
   

• Business & Company Resource Center
  Search for news and articles on statistics. An extensive business, company and industry database with news, articles, financial documents, rankings, company histories, industry reports, and more.
   

• Infotrac OneFile
  A large periodicals database featuring the full text and citations for newspaper and magazine articles. Includes many business and government publications.
   

• Rand
  A useful source for California statistics that is produced by the Rand Institute in Santa Monica. Includes statistics on business and economics, population and demographics, government finance, census, and more.
   

• Newsbank
  Search for full text newspaper articles on statistics. Consists of two databases: America’s Newspapers, which indexes the full text of the Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, Christian Science Monitor, Orange County Register, San Diego Union-Tribune, USA Today, the Washington Post, and the San Francisco Chronicle from roughly 1985 to the present; and Noticias en Español, which provides full text articles in Spanish.

Many of these databases provide indexing and full text of magazine and newspaper articles with statistics. Under the general subject heading, look for the subheading such as "Statistics," "Forecasts," "Surveys." Or, try the keyword search feature using "statistics" as one of the terms, e.g. "bank failures and statistics."

Go to the Library's databases