U.S. Census Bureau Economic Briefing Room

New Residential Construction

Tue, 20 Oct 2026 08:30:00 -0400

Privately-owned housing starts in September 2026 were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,221,000. This is 5.2 percent (+/- 11.8%)* below the revised August 2026 estimate of 1,288,000.

September 2026: -5.2* % Change
August 2026 (r): -5.9* % Change

Manufacturing and Trade Inventories and Sales

Thu, 15 Oct 2026 10:00:00 -0400

U.S. total business end-of-month inventories for August 2026 were $2,818.8 billion, up 0.4 percent (+/- 0.1 percent) from last month. U.S. total business sales were $2,123.5 billion, up 1.1 percent (+/- 0.1 percent) from last month.

August 2026: +0.4 % Change in Inventories
July 2026 (r): +0.9 % Change in Inventories

Advance Monthly Sales for Retail and Food Services

Thu, 15 Oct 2026 08:30:00 -0400

U.S. retail and food services sales for September 2026 were $745.0 billion, up 0.8 percent (+/-0.4 percent) from the previous month.

September 2026: +0.8 % Change
August 2026 (r): +1.3 % Change

Business Formation Statistics

Wed, 14 Oct 2026 10:00:00 -0400

Total U.S. Business Applications were 534,947 in September 2026, up 0.5% from August 2026.

September 2026: +0.5° % Change
August 2026 (r): -7.7° % Change

Monthly Wholesale Trade: Sales and Inventories

Thu, 08 Oct 2026 10:00:00 -0400

August 2026 sales of merchant wholesalers were $817.5 billion, up 1.8 percent (+/- 0.2 percent) from last month. End-of-month inventories were $964.2 billion, up 0.5 percent (+/- 0.2 percent) from last month.

August 2026: +0.5 % Change in Inventories
July 2026 (r): +1.4 % Change in Inventories

U.S. International Trade in Goods and Services

Tue, 06 Oct 2026 08:30:00 -0400

The nation's international trade deficit in goods and services increased to $105.6 billion in August from $92.8 billion in July (revised), as imports increased more than exports.

August 2026: 13.7° % Change
July 2026 (r): 30.4° % Change

Manufacturers' Shipments, Inventories, and Orders

Fri, 02 Oct 2026 10:00:00 -0400

New orders for manufactured goods in August, up two consecutive months, increased $0.7 billion or 0.1 percent to $663.5 billion.

August 2026: +0.1° % Change
July 2026 (r): +0.8° % Change

Construction Spending

Thu, 01 Oct 2026 10:00:00 -0400

Total construction spending for August 2026 ($2,203.1 billion) was 0.9 percent (+/- 1.0 percent)* above the revised July 2026 ($2,184.5 billion) estimate.

August 2026: 0.9* % Change
July 2026 (r): -0.1* % Change

Advance U.S. International Trade in Goods

Wed, 30 Sep 2026 08:30:00 -0400

The advance international trade deficit in goods increased to $132.6 billion in August from $118.9 billion in July as imports increased more than exports.

August 2026: 11.5° % Change
July 2026: 17.7° % Change

Advance Wholesale Inventories

Wed, 30 Sep 2026 08:30:00 -0400

August end-of-month inventories were $965.7 billion, up 0.7 percent (+/- 0.2 percent) from last month.

August 2026: +0.7 % Change in Inventories
July 2026 (r): +1.3 % Change in Inventories

Advance Retail Inventories

Wed, 30 Sep 2026 08:30:00 -0400

August 2026 end-of-month inventories were $881.6 billion, up 0.3 percent (+/-0.2 percent) from last month.

August 2026: +0.3 % Change in Inventories
July 2026 (r): +0.8 % Change in Inventories

Advance Monthly Manufacturers' Shipments, Inventories, and Orders

Fri, 25 Sep 2026 08:30:00 -0400

New orders for manufactured durable goods in August, down following two consecutive monthly increases, decreased $0.1 billion or virtually unchanged to $338.6 billion.

August 2026: -0.0° % Change
July 2026 (r): +0.9° % Change

New Home Sales

Thu, 24 Sep 2026 10:00:00 -0400

Sales of new single-family houses in August 2026 were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 684,000. This is 6.4 percent (+/- 19.5%)* above the revised July 2026 estimate of 643,000.

August 2026: +6.4* % Change
July 2026 (r): -4.3* % Change

Quarterly Services Survey

Wed, 09 Sep 2026 10:00:00 -0400

U.S. selected services total revenue for the second quarter of 2026, adjusted for seasonal variation but not for price changes, was $6,418.7 billion, an increase of 3.0 percent (+/- 0.4 percent) from the first quarter of 2026 and up 7.6 percent (+/- 0.6 percent) from the second quarter of 2025. The first quarter of 2026 to second quarter of 2026 percentage change was revised from the advance estimate of 3.1 percent (+/- 0.4 percent).

2nd Qtr 2026: +3.0 % Change
1st Qtr 2026 (r): +1.1 % Change

Quarterly Financial Report - Retail

Tue, 08 Sep 2026 10:00:00 -0400

Not seasonally adjusted after-tax profits for retail corporations with assets of $50 million and over were $112.3 billion for the second quarter 2026 (the 3 months ending July 31, 2026), up $47.2 (+/- 0.5) billion from first quarter 2026 (the 3 months ending April 30, 2026).

2nd Qtr 2026: +47.2 Billions of Dollars
1st Qtr 2026 (r): +1.7 Billions of Dollars

Quarterly Financial Report

Tue, 08 Sep 2026 10:00:00 -0400

Manufacturing corporations' not seasonally adjusted after-tax profits were $370.1 billion for the second quarter of 2026, up $82.8 (+/- 1.2) billion from first quarter of 2026.

2nd Qtr 2026: +82.8 Billions of Dollars
1st Qtr 2026 (r): +50.6 Billions of Dollars

Rental Vacancy Rate

Tue, 28 Jul 2026 10:00:00 -0400

The rental vacancy rate of 7.3 percent was not statistically different from the rate in the second quarter 2025. Compared to the second quarter 2025, the rental vacancy rate was higher in the Northeast and not statistically different in the Midwest, South, and West.

2nd Qtr 2026: +0.3* Percentage Points
2nd Qtr 2025: +0.4 Percentage Points

Housing Vacancies and Homeownership

Tue, 28 Jul 2026 10:00:00 -0400

The homeownership rate of 65.0 percent was virtually the same as the rate in the second quarter 2025. The homeownership rates in the Northeast, Midwest, South, and West were not statistically different from second quarter 2025 rates.

2nd Qtr 2026: +0.0* Percentage Points
2nd Qtr 2025: -0.6* Percentage Points