Who Collects the Data - and When?

The national output statistics are calculated quarterly by the Commerce Department and can be found in the Survey of Current Business. These quarterly figures are seasonally adjusted and reported as yearly rates. The GDP data are published in a series of releases, the timing of which are inversely related to the size of the samples used to derive the statistics and to their accuracy. As a result, you will find it difficult to assemble a consistent time-series because of continual revisions of earlier data.  For example, if you look for GDP data in two issues of Economic Indicators or the Survey of Current Business, I suspect you will find there will be two different figures for GDP in 1998. In recent years the quality of these initial estimates has declined, in part a result of reductions in the budget appropriations for the data collection agencies in the government. The best sources for consistent time-series would be the Economic Report of the President, for annual data, and Business Statistics for quarterly data. In both cases the data would have to be supplemented with recent data from Economic Indicators or the Survey of Current Business.

If you are looking for some of the data on-line, you should try one of the following sources which provide indexes of a wide array of data.   You could also go directly to the BEA page where you will find an on-line version of the Survey of Current Business or to a Geospatial and Statistical Data Center at the University of Virginia.

• Wall Street Research Net a great site that links to all the primary sites
• The Economic Briefing Room a site for current data
• Economic Indicators a good site for recent data (few years)
• Economic Report of the President data tables great for annual data

You can also get a lead on when the data will be released.

• When the numbers are released