U.S. Census Bureau Economic Briefing Room http://www.census.gov/cgi-bin/briefroom/BriefRm Key National Economic Indicators Published by the U.S. Census Bureau en Wed, 16 May 2012 08:36:22 -0400 Wed, 16 May 2012 08:36:22 -0400 New Residential Construction http://www.census.gov/starts Privately-owned housing starts in April 2012 were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 717,000. This is 2.6 percent (+/- 14.8%)* above the revised March 2012 estimate of 699,000.

April 2012: +2.6 % change
March 2012: -2.6 % change ]]> housing_starts Wed, 16 May 2012 08:36:22 -0400 Manufacturing and Trade Inventories and Sales http://www.census.gov/bussales U.S. total business sales for March 2012 were $1,241.0 billion, up 0.6 percent (+/-0.2%) from last month. Month end inventories were $1,580.2 billion, up 0.3 percent (+/-0.1%) from last month.

March 2012: +0.6 % Change in sales
February 2012: +0.7 % Change in sales ]]> business_sales Tue, 15 May 2012 10:10:09 -0400 Advance Monthly Sales for Retail and Food Services http://www.census.gov/retail U.S. retail and food services sales for April reached $408.0 billion, an increase of 0.1 percent (+/- 0.5%)* from the previous month.

April 2012: 0.1 % change
March 2012: 0.7 % change ]]> retail_sales Tue, 15 May 2012 08:36:45 -0400 U.S. International Trade in Goods and Services http://www.census.gov/trade The Nation’s international trade deficit in goods and services increased to $51.8 billion in March from $45.4 billion (revised) in February, as imports increased more than exports.

March 2012: 51.8 $ billion deficit
February 2012: 45.4 $ billion deficit ]]> intl_trade Thu, 10 May 2012 08:30:15 -0400 Monthly Wholesale Trade: Sales and Inventories http://www.census.gov/wholesale/index.html March 2012 sales of merchant wholesalers were $411.1 billion, up 0.5 percent (+/-0.7%)* from last month. End-of-month inventories were $480.4 billion, up 0.3 percent (+/-0.4%)* from last month.

March 2012: 0.3 % change in Inv
February 2012: 0.9 % change in Inv ]]> wholesale Wed, 09 May 2012 10:03:13 -0400 Manufacturers' Shipments, Inventories, and Orders http://www.census.gov/m3 New orders for manufactured goods in March decreased $7.1 billion or 1.5 percent to $460.5 billion.

March 2012: -1.5 % change
February 2012: 1.1 % change ]]> mfg_orders Wed, 02 May 2012 10:03:12 -0400 Construction Spending http://www.census.gov/c30 Total construction activity for March 2012 ($808.1 billion) was 0.1 percent above the revised February 2012 ($807.3 billion). Please see our web site for further details: http://www.census.gov/constructionspending

March 2012: 0.1 % change
February 2012: -1.4 % change ]]> construction_value Tue, 01 May 2012 10:00:44 -0400 Housing Vacancies and Homeownership http://www.census.gov/hhes/www/housing/hvs/hvs.html

Homeownership Rate (HR)
The homeownership rate in the first quarter 2012 (65.4 percent) was lower than the first quarter 2011 rate (66.4 percent). The homeownership rates in the Northeast, Midwest, South, and West were lower than the corresponding first quarter 2011 rates.

Rental Vacancy Rate (RVR)
The rental vacancy rate in the first quarter 2012 (8.8 percent) was lower than the first quarter 2011 rate (9.7 percent).

Homeowner Vacancy Rate (HVR)
The homeowner vacancy rate of 2.2 percent in first quarter 2012 was lower than the first quarter 2011 rate (2.6 percent).

1st Qtr 2012
(HR): 65.4 percent
1st Qtr 2011
(HR): 66.4 percent ]]> homeownership Mon, 30 Apr 2012 10:15:18 -0400 Advance Report on Durable Goods Manufacturers' Shipments, Inventories, and Orders http://www.census.gov/m3 New orders for manufactured durable goods in March decreased $8.8 billion or 4.2 percent to $202.6 billion.

March 2012: -4.2 % change
February 2012: 1.9 % change ]]> durable_goods Wed, 25 Apr 2012 08:33:20 -0400 New Residential Sales http://www.census.gov/newhomesales Sales of new single-family houses in March 2012 were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 328,000. This is 7.1 percent (+/- 20.7%)* below the revised February 2012 estimate of 353,000.

March 2012: -7.1 % change
February 2012: +7.3 % change ]]> home_sales Tue, 24 Apr 2012 10:00:23 -0400 Quarterly Financial Report - Retail Trade http://www.census.gov/econ/qfr/ After-tax profits for retail corporations with assets greater than $50 million averaged 3.1 cents per dollar of sales for the fourth quarter 2011 (the 3 months ending Jan. 31, 2012), up 0.3 cents from the after-tax profits average of 2.8 cents for the third quarter 2011 (the 3 months ending Oct. 31, 2011).

4th Qtr. 2011: +0.3 cents
3rd Qtr. 2011: -0.3 cents ]]> qfr_retail Mon, 26 Mar 2012 10:00:10 -0400 Quarterly Financial Report - Manufacturing, Mining, Wholesale Trade, and Selected Service Industries http://www.census.gov/econ/qfr/ Manufacturing corporations' seasonally adjusted after-tax profits were 8.9 cents per dollar of sales for the fourth quarter of 2011, down 0.2 cents from the seasonally adjusted after-tax profits average of 9.1 cents for the third quarter of 2011.

4th Qtr. 2011: -0.2 cents
3rd Qtr. 2011: -0.7 cents ]]> qfr_trade Mon, 26 Mar 2012 10:00:02 -0400 Quarterly Services Survey http://www.census.gov/qss U.S. information sector revenue for the fourth calendar quarter of 2011, adjusted for seasonal variation but not for price changes, was $290.7 billion, an increase of 0.6 percent (+/- 0.9) from the second quarter of 2011.

4th Qtr 2011: 0.6 % change
3rd Qtr 2011: 0.5 % change ]]> esbr075 Thu, 08 Mar 2012 10:00:06 -0500