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 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 10:04:40 -0500 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 10:04:40 -0500 Monthly Wholesale Trade: Sales and Inventories http://www.census.gov/wholesale/index.html December 2011 sales of merchant wholesalers were $413.1 billion, up 1.3 percent (+/-0.7%) from last month. End-of-month inventories were $473.2 billion, up 1.0 percent (+/-0.5%) from last month.

December 2011: 1.0 % change in Inv
November 2011: 0.0 % change in Inv ]]> wholesale Thu, 09 Feb 2012 10:04:39 -0500 Manufacturers' Shipments, Inventories, and Orders http://www.census.gov/m3 New orders for manufactured goods in December increased $5.3 billion or 1.1 percent to $466.2 billion.

December 2011: 1.1 % change
November 2011: 2.2 % change ]]> mfg_orders Fri, 03 Feb 2012 10:03:30 -0500 Construction Spending http://www.census.gov/c30 Total construction activity for December 2011 ($816.4 billion) was 1.5 percent above the revised November 2011 ($804.0 billion). Please see our web site for further details: http://www.census.gov/constructionspending

December 2011: 1.5 % change
November 2011: 0.4 % change ]]> construction_value Wed, 01 Feb 2012 10:01:21 -0500 Housing Vacancies and Homeownership http://www.census.gov/hhes/www/housing/hvs/hvs.html

Homeownership Rate (HR)
The homeownership rate in the fourth quarter 2011 (66.0 percent) was lower than the fourth quarter 2010 rate (66.5 percent). The homeownership rates in the Northeast, Midwest, South, and West were not statistically different from their corresponding fourth quarter 2010 rates.

Rental Vacancy Rate (RVR)
The rental vacancy rate in the fourth quarter 2011 (9.4 percent) was approximately the same as the fourth quarter 2010 rate (9.4 percent).

Homeowner Vacancy Rate (HVR)
The homeowner vacancy rate of 2.3 percent in fourth quarter 2011 was lower than the fourth quarter 2010 rate (2.7 percent).

4th Qtr 2011
(HR): 66.0 percent
3rd Qtr 2011
(HR): 66.3 percent ]]> homeownership Tue, 31 Jan 2012 10:26:18 -0500 New Residential Sales http://www.census.gov/newhomesales Sales of new single-family houses in December 2011 were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 307,000. This is 2.2 percent (+/- 13.2%)* below the revised November 2011 estimate of 314,000.

December 2011: -2.2 % change
November 2011: +2.3 % change ]]> home_sales Thu, 26 Jan 2012 10:00:12 -0500 Advance Report on Durable Goods Manufacturers' Shipments, Inventories, and Orders http://www.census.gov/m3 New orders for manufactured durable goods in December increased $6.2 billion or 3.0 percent to $214.5 billion.

December 2011: 3.0 % change
November 2011: 4.3 % change ]]> durable_goods Thu, 26 Jan 2012 08:34:31 -0500 New Residential Construction http://www.census.gov/starts Privately-owned housing starts in December 2011 were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 657,000. This is 4.1 percent (+/- 11.6%)* below the revised November 2011 estimate of 685,000.

December 2011: -4.1 % change
November 2011: +9.1 % change ]]> housing_starts Thu, 19 Jan 2012 08:30:16 -0500 U.S. International Trade in Goods and Services http://www.census.gov/trade The Nation’s international trade balance in goods and services decreased to -$47.8 billion in November from -$43.3 billion (revised) in October, as imports increased and exports decreased.

November 2011: -47.8 $ billion
October 2011: -43.3 $ billion ]]> intl_trade Fri, 13 Jan 2012 16:59:39 -0500 Manufacturing and Trade Inventories and Sales http://www.census.gov/bussales U.S. total business sales for November 2011 were $1,220.9 billion, up 0.3 percent (+/-0.2%) from last month. Month end inventories were $1,550.1 billion, up 0.3 percent (+/-0.1%) from last month.

November 2011: +0.3 % Change in sales
October 2011: +0.6 % Change in sales ]]> business_sales Thu, 12 Jan 2012 10:07:08 -0500 Advance Monthly Sales for Retail and Food Services http://www.census.gov/retail U.S. retail and food service sales for December reached $400.6 billion, an increase of 0.1 percent (+/- 0.5%)* from the previous month.

December 2011: 0.1 % change
November 2011: 0.4 % change ]]> retail_sales Thu, 12 Jan 2012 08:45:25 -0500 Quarterly Financial Report - Retail Trade http://www.census.gov/econ/qfr/ After-tax profits for retail corporations with assets greater than $50 million averaged 2.7 cents per dollar of sales for the third quarter 2011 (the 3 months ending Oct. 31, 2011), down 0.3 (+/- 0.1) cents from the after-tax profits average of 3.0 cents for the second quarter 2011 (the 3 months ending Jul. 30, 2011).

3rd Qtr. 2011: -0.3 cents
2nd Qtr. 2011: +1.0 cents ]]> qfr_retail Mon, 19 Dec 2011 10:00:31 -0500 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 9.1 cents per dollar of sales for the third quarter of 2011, down 0.6 (+/- 0.1) cents from the seasonally adjusted after-tax profits average of 9.7 cents for the second quarter of 2011.

3rd Qtr. 2011: -0.6 cents
2nd Qtr. 2011: +0.5 cents ]]> qfr_trade Mon, 12 Dec 2011 10:00:11 -0500 Quarterly Services Survey http://www.census.gov/qss U.S. information sector revenue for the third calendar quarter of 2011, adjusted for seasonal variation but not for price changes, was $288.6 billion, an increase of 0.6 percent (+/- 0.6) from the second quarter of 2011.

3rd Qtr 2011: 0.6 % change
2nd Qtr 2011: 1.7 % change ]]> esbr075 Wed, 07 Dec 2011 10:01:01 -0500