Office of the Small Business Ombudsman

Economic Indicators and You

When you participate in one of our economic surveys you are more than just another business supplying us with information. You are helping to paint a picture of our nation's economy, where it is, and where it is going.

Reliable measures of current economic activity are essential to an objective assessment of our economy. The surveys you provide data for assist policymakers in making decisions that impact all of us. Banks, businesses, and individuals also use these data for investment purposes. All of which would not be possible without your support.

The Census Bureau currently conducts more than 100 current economic surveys including 13 principal economic indicators. These surveys cover construction, foreign trade, manufacturing, mining, retail and wholesale trade, and services, the fastest growing sector of our economy.

Reliable measures of current economic activity are essential to an objective assessment of the need for, and impact of, a wide range of public policy decisions that would be impossible without your support.