Research Guides: ECON 394: Labor Economics (BMC): Data and Statistical Sources

United States labor- and industry-related sources

Bureau of Economic Analysis
Data at the regional, national, and international levels that includes: Gross Domestic Product (GDP), Personal Income and Outlays, Consumer Spending, Corporate Profits, Fixed Assets, Research and Development Satellite Account, Balance of Payments, Trade in Goods and Services, and more.
Bureau of Labor Statistics (U.S.)
The BLS is the premiere federal source for employment data in the US.
Data.gov
U.S. Federal Data Sources
Economic Indicators and Releases (NBER)
The National Bureau of Economic Research maintains an updated list of economic indicators from a variety of (US) sources, including the Federal Reserve, the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the US Census Bureau, and Federal Reserve banks in various cities.
U.S. Dept. of Commerce
Department of Commerce, Data & Analysis section... has statistics on U.S. import, export and other trade statistics.
U.S. Small Business Administration Open Data
ILOSTAT
Produced by the International Labour Organization, ILOSTAT provides multiple datasets with labour market statistics for over 100 indicators and 230 countries, areas and territories.

IPUMS
IPUMS from the University of Minnesota Population Center is the best place for microdata from the U.S. Census, for International Microdata, the Current Population Survey, and a variety of other important resources.
American Community Survey: When to use 1-year or 5-year Estimates
This webpage clearly explains the differences between each dataset of the American Community Survey and will help you decide which one to use. Applies to both American FactFinder and Social Explorer.
Census Bureau Data
Provides statistics and data from the US Census Bureau. Includes the Decennial Census, Economic Censuses and Surveys, and the American Community Survey.

Social Explorer
Offers access to reports and interactive maps for the U.S. Census (1790-present), World Development Indicators (1960-2013), and Eurostat (European Union data), among others. A project of Queens College, sponsored by the New York Times and the National Science Foundation.

U.S. Census Bureau: Economic Indicators
Monthly wholesale trade, Manufacturing, Construction spending, Durable goods, New home sales, New residential construction, Retail trade, Services, U.S. International trade, Housing vacancies and ownership

Economist Intelligence Unit - Country Forecasts
To find Economist Intelligence Unit - Country Forecasts, search Tripod for ""Economist Intelligence Unit" . These forecasts give an historical overview + outlook for the coming year for various sectors and economic indicators.

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Economic Surveys
OECD’s periodic reviews of member and non-member economies. Member country reviews are generally done on an 18 month cycle, while non-member reviews are done as agreed with the subject country. A minimum of 18 surveys are done each year. Each issue provides a comprehensive analysis of developments in the subject country, along with individual chapters covering key economic challenges being faced and recommendations for dealing with the challenges.
World Development Indicators (WDI) Online This link opens in a new window
World Development Indicators (WDI) is the primary World Bank collection of development indicators, compiled from officially recognized international sources. It includes more than 1100 indicators on population, income, social, economic, financial, natural resources, and environment, covering 210 countries and 18 regional and income groups. Also includes the International Debt Statistics (IDS) database. Data ranges from 1960-present.

International Country Risk Guide
The ICRG (International Country Risk Guide) Researcher's Dataset from the PRS Group comprises 22 variables in three subcategories of risk (political, financial, and economic), for 146 countries, over the period 1984 to the previous year. Data are annual averages of components published in the International Country Risk Guide.
Maddison Project Database
The Maddison Project Database provides information on comparative economic growth and income levels over the very long run. The 2023 version of this database covers 169 countries and the period up to 2022.

BIS Statistics
Bank for International Settlement provides open access statistics on various aspects of the global financial system, including exchange rates and banking statistics. Also see the Annual Reports for discussions of general and country specific international economics issues.
Eurostat
Eurostat is the statistical office of the European Union. It provides European Union statistics that enable comparisons between countries and regions.

ICPSR (Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research) Data Archive
Provides access to an archive of online social science data, training facilities in basic and advanced techniques of quantitative social analysis. Provides a comprehensive list of ICPSR resources and services, information on membership and governance, links to national data archives affiliated with ICPSR, and contact information.
International Financial Statistics This link opens in a new window
Contains time series data for most IMF members (over 200 countries) including data on a country's exchange rates, international liquidity, money and banking accounts, interest rates, production, prices, international transactions, government accounts, and national accounts as well as commodity and trade statistics. Also contains area and world tables for selected series.

International Monetary Fund
International yearbook of industrial statistics
The annual print versions of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) statistics (INDSTAT) are located in the Canaday Reference section (Floor 1) and on Floor B.
OECD Statistics
OECD iLibrary contains limited statistics and datasets released by OECD (Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development), International Energy Agency (IEA), Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA), OECD Development Centre, PISA (Programme for International Student Assessment), and International Transport Forum (ITF)
Penn World Table
The Penn World Table version 9.0 is a database with information on relative levels of income, output, input and productivity, covering 182 countries between 1950 and 2014. The European Union or the OECD provide more detailed purchasing power and real product estimates for their countries and the World Bank makes current price estimates for most PWT countries at the GDP level.

UNdata This link opens in a new window
A single entry portal for UN databases. Find data series by searching or browsing by theme. Includes Country Profiles, Advanced Search and Glossaries to aid research. All countries and a wide range of themes are covered.

World Bank Open Data
Access World Development Indicators data by country or indicator.