Economics Research Guide

The Census Bureau's American Community Survey helps local officials, community leaders and businesses understand the changes taking place in their communities. It is the premier source for detailed information about the American people and workforce.

BEA's economists produce some of the world's most closely watched statistics, including U.S. gross domestic product, better known as GDP. We do state and local numbers, too, plus foreign trade and investment stats and industry data.

Major U.S. Government source of data on multiple aspects of the economy, including the consumer price index, employment and unemployment, inlfation, wages, benefits, productivity, and more.

Business Dynamics Statistics include measures of establishment openings and closings, firm startups, job creation and destruction by firm size, age, and industrial sector, and several other statistics on business dynamics. The BDS has some elements that are similar to the Bureau of Labor Statistics Business Employment Dynamics (BED) and the Census Bureau’s Statistics on U.S. Business (SUSB) programs. However, the BDS provides the first publicly available tabulations of job creation by firm size and age taking advantage of the unique aspects of the Longitudinal Business Database (LBD).

The U.S. Census Bureau's new data exploration tool (replaces AmericanFactFinder).

CBO regularly publishes data to accompany some of its key reports. These data have been published in the Budget and Economic Outlook and Updates and in their associated supplemental material, except for that from the Long-Term Budget Outlook.

Search the Federal government's portal for data sets related to a wide range of topics.

Data, profiles, and maps based on publicly available data.

Managed by the International Trade Administration in collaboration with several other U.S. government agencies, including the departments of Commerce, Energy, Agriculture, Treasury, and more.

The House Ways and Means Committee Green Book provides program descriptions and historical data on a wide variety of social and economic topics, including Social Security, employment, earnings, welfare, child support, health insurance, the elderly, families with children, poverty and taxation. It has become a standard reference work for those interested in the direction of social policy in the United States. It is compiled by the staff of the Committee on Ways and Means of the U.S. House of Representatives.

Explore the topics tab. The International Monetary Fund's (IMF) eLibrary simplifies analysis and research with direct access to the IMF’s periodicals, books, working papers and studies, and data and statistical tools. Users will find information and perspective on macroeconomics, globalization, development, trade and aid, technical assistance, demographics, emerging markets, policy advice, poverty reduction, and so much more.

The NTL collects, maintains, and facilitates access to over 200,000 print titles, 500 print periodical subscriptions, and 100 online databases covering general transportation, highway, rail, maritime, and public transportation. Its primary database is known as TRIS.

NODIS is a member of the State Data Center Network, which compiles and distributed statistical reports for individual states and regions.

Includes primary source documents, news reports, and legislative analysis for the Ohio General Assembly. Use this resource to find the status and text of bills, hearing testimony, scheduled meetings, committees, information about legislators, and political news from the State of Ohio.

This is an annotated list of databases produced by Ohio State Agencies listed by producing agency. The list is maintained by the Government Documents Round Table of the American Library Association.

Economic research portal to data collected and maintained by the Federal Reserve, including FRED and other data source, newsletters, working papers, and more. Also provides useful graphing, Excel, and mapping tools to assist researchers in retrieving and formatting FRED data.

PUMS files show the full range of population and housing unit responses collected on individual ACS questionnaires, for a subsample of ACS housing units and group quarters persons. PUMS files allow users to conduct a custom analysis using a sample of actual responses to the American Community Survey (ACS). They are much more flexible than the aggregate data available on American FactFinder, though the PUMS files also tend to be more complicated to use. Working with PUMS data generally involves downloading large datasets onto a local computer and analyzing the data using statistical software such as R, SPSS, Stata, or SAS.

Each record in the file represents a single person, or--in the household-level dataset--a single housing unit. In the person-level file, individuals are organized into households, making possible the study of people within the contexts of their families and other household members. PUMS files for an individual year, such as 2014, contain data on approximately one percent of the United States population. PUMS files covering a five-year period, such as 2010-2014, contain data on approximately five percent of the United States population.

PUMS data can be accessed via the ACS FTP site, American FactFinder, or via the Census Bureau's Data Ferrett tool. (This tool is particularly useful for researchers who need a quick statistic or do not have access to statistical software.)

An historical archive of U.S. statistical data up to 2011.

Use this resource to learn more about federal agencies. This annual publication describes the structure and function of the Federal government. It describes the responsibilities of each agency.

The primary source for U.S. criminal justice statistics. The BJS collects, analyzes, publishes, and disseminates information on crime, criminal offenders, victims of crime, and the operation of justice systems at all levels of government. Includes link to

Statistical crime reports and publications, detailing specific offenses and outlining trends. Includes Crime in the U.S., the most comprehensive analysis of violent crime and property crime, including volume and rate of crime offenses for the nation, the states, and many cities and counties.

A searchable inventory of nearly 10,000 publicly available criminal justice datasets and research from all 50 states, the District of Columbia, U.S. territories and the federal government for the period September 2014 to October 2015.

Searchable by zip code, city or county, this site provides information on residential demographics, home sales, crime data, cost of living, etc.

Provides analysis of worldwide demographic data. Searchable by geographic area or topic.

Open access to full-text scholarly articles and other research from hundreds of universities and colleges worldwide. Curated by university librarians and their supporting institutions, this dynamic research tool includes peer-reviewed journal articles, book chapters, dissertations, working papers, conference proceedings, and other original scholarly work.

This government website provides data on population, economics, housing, ethnicity, etc.

In addition to tables, graphs, and datasets, BEA provides tools to help with understanding the U.S. economy.

BLS gathers and disseminates data about employment and unemployment within the United States. Explore the subject area content within the site, or use the available data retrieval tools to create and download data sets.

Available from April 1995 forward, this monthly publication is prepared by the Council of Economic Advisers for the Joint Economic Committee. It provides economic information on gross domestic product, income, employment, production, business activity, prices, money, credit, security markets, Federal finance, and international statistics.

Economic Indicators back to 1948 are made available through FRASER, the Federal Reserve Archival System for Economic Research. FRASER is provided through a partnership between GPO and the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. FRASER is not an official version of Economic Indicators and GPO can not guarantee the authenticity or completeness of the data. About Economic Indicators

All companies, foreign and domestic, are required to file registration statements, periodic reports, and other forms electronically through EDGAR. Anyone can access and download this information for free. Here you'll find links to a complete list of filings available through EDGAR and instructions for searching the EDGAR database.

Current economic data from the Federal Reserve.

This publication from the National Center for Education Statistics is a good starting point for finding statistics about education in the United States.

Guide to sources for health statistics on specific topics.

The Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System is the primary resource for data about higher education in the United States.

The Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS) is a set of large-scale surveys of families and individuals, their medical providers, and employers across the United States. MEPS is the most complete source of data on the cost and use of health care and health insurance coverage.

NCES is responsible for a series of programs that gather data on education within the United States.

Provides a reference list of nationally funded data systems that have a relationship to environmental public health.

Use NCHS resources to locate vital statistics about the population of the United States. Additional tools provide data about healthcare, families and aging, and the prevalence of health conditions in the United States.

A national study of socioeconomics and health over lifetimes and across generations. The longest running longitudinal household survey in the world.

Provides free access to NCDC's archive of global historical weather and climate data in addition to station history information. These data include quality controlled daily, monthly, seasonal, and yearly measurements of temperature, precipitation, wind, and degree days as well as radar data and 30-year Climate Normals.

The EIA gathers and disseminates data on all aspects of energy, including economic and usage data.

From daily weather forecasts, severe storm warnings, and climate monitoring to fisheries management, coastal restoration and supporting marine commerce, NOAA’s products and services support economic vitality and affect more than one-third of America’s gross domestic product.

The EPA's official open data catalog.

The NCDC provides access to weather and climate data for the United States.

This free resource provides aggregate census data and GIS-compatible boundary files for the United States between 1790 and 2012.

The Census Bureau provides mapping tools along with geospatial data.

Provides data-driven news based on U.S. and world polls, daily tracking and public opinion research.

Pew Research Center is a nonpartisan fact tank that informs the public about the issues, attitudes and trends shaping America and the world. It conducts public opinion polling, demographic research, media content analysis and other empirical social science research.

The Pew Research Center's Project for Excellence in Journalism is dedicated to trying to understand the information revolution by specializing in using empirical methods to evaluate and study the performance of the press, particularly content analysis.
The goal is to help both the journalists who produce the news and the citizens who consume it develop a better understanding of what the press is delivering, how the media are changing, and what forces are shaping those changes.