US Customs and Border Protection and the Census Bureau publish comprehensive import and export statistics by commodity (HTS code), trading partner, port of entry, and month. Here is the data structure, how to access USA Trade Online and the Census Foreign Trade API, and what the data reveals about trade diversion after Section 301 tariffs.
Writing · topic · 55 articles
Economy and demographics
Jobs, prices, income, poverty, housing, and population statistics from BLS, Census, BEA, and SSA.
The BLS Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers tracks monthly inflation going back to January 1913. Here is the expenditure weight breakdown, how CPI-U differs from core CPI and the PCE deflator, how to access it via the BLS API, and what the 2021-2023 surge revealed about shelter inflation measurement and monetary policy transmission.
The Social Security Administration publishes annual disability award statistics covering both SSDI and SSI — awards by state, diagnosis code, age group, gender, and decision level. Here is what the dataset contains, how to access it, and what it reveals about geographic variation in award rates, the ALJ hearing backlog, and the Trust Fund solvency timeline.
The Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey tracks monthly job openings, hires, quits, layoffs, and other separations by industry and region. Here is the data structure, BLS API access, and what JOLTS reveals about the Great Resignation, the Fed's rate-hike calculus, and the labor market signals that precede recessions.
Federal data · Economy and demographics · Labor and workplace
US trade controls and the trade they govern usually live in separate datasets — OFAC’s sanctions lists, BIS’s export-enforcement record, and the Census foreign-trade statistics. This guide joins all three by country, HS commodity, and party so the rules, the violations, and the actual flow of goods line up in one view.
Economy and demographics · Sanctions and illicit finance · Engineering and infrastructure
The Home Mortgage Disclosure Act forces thousands of lenders to report every mortgage application and loan — but first someone has to record who filed. The FFIEC filer panel is that registry: roughly 34,700 filer-year records (2018–2023) keyed by Legal Entity Identifier, the index to the most important fair-lending dataset in the country.
Finance and markets · Economy and demographics · Federal data
The USDA Food and Nutrition Service publishes monthly SNAP participation and benefit data by state — total participants, households, benefits issued, average benefit per person, and issuance history going back to 1969. The data shows how food assistance responds to recessions, pandemic aid expansions, and state-level work requirement policies. Here is what the data contains, how to access it, and what 50 years of SNAP data reveals.
Federal data · Food and agriculture · Economy and demographics
The Census Bureau's American Community Survey publishes 5-year estimates for every census tract in the US — income, poverty, race, housing tenure, education, employment, and 350+ other variables at the tract level. ACS is the denominator that makes every other federal dataset meaningful: HMDA denial rates per capita, OSHA injury rates per worker, SNAP participation per household. Here is what it contains, how to access it, and how to join it to enforcement data.
Federal data · Economy and demographics · Transparency and open data
HUD's Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity office publishes a complaint database covering every fair housing complaint filed with HUD and participating state agencies — basis of discrimination (race, national origin, disability, familial status, sex, religion), property type, complaint disposition, and whether the complainant received relief. Here is the data structure and what 50,000+ complaints reveal about where housing discrimination concentrates.
Federal data · Economy and demographics · Justice and immigration
The Home Mortgage Disclosure Act requires 7,000+ lenders to report every mortgage application — approvals, denials, withdrawn, race, income, loan amount, census tract. Here is how to use the CFPB bulk download to find redlining, reverse redlining, and lender-level denial rate disparities.
Federal data · Economy and demographics · Finance and markets
The Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey is the most comprehensive federal source of wage data by occupation — covering 830 detailed occupations across every industry and geographic area in the United States, with employment counts and full wage distributions for 1.1 million surveyed establishments.
Economy and demographics · Labor and workplace · Federal data
The Home Mortgage Disclosure Act requires every US mortgage lender to report every loan application — applicant race, income, property location, loan amount, interest rate, action taken, and denial reason — creating the most comprehensive public dataset on mortgage lending disparities.
The Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act Entity List identifies companies whose goods are presumed to be produced with Uyghur forced labor in Xinjiang — any imports from these entities are barred from US markets unless importers can rebut the presumption with clear and convincing evidence.
Sanctions and illicit finance · Federal data · Economy and demographics
The Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates program produces annual county-level income and poverty statistics used to allocate $16 billion in Title I-A education funding.
CPS (Census/BLS joint survey since 1940): ~60,000 housing units/month (4-8-4 rotation group design); reference week containing the 12th. Labor force classifications: employed (1+ hour for pay/profit during reference week), unemployed (no work + active search past 4 weeks + currently available), not in labor force. U-1 through U-6 supplemental measures: U-3 = official rate, U-6 = total underemployment (unemployed + marginally attached + part-time for economic reasons); COVID-19 peak April 2020 U-3 14.7% / U-6 22.9%. Annual ASEC supplement (March, expanded ~100,000 households): official poverty rate (48 Orshansky thresholds by family size/composition; 2023 family-of-4 threshold ~$30,900; 2023 poverty rate ~11.1%, ~36M people); health insurance coverage; SPM (Supplemental Poverty Measure, 2011: counts SNAP/housing subsidies/EITC, subtracts taxes/work expenses/medical costs, geographic cost adjustment -- lower poverty for working-age, higher for elderly). CPS vs. CES/QCEW: residence-based (where people live) vs. establishment-based (where jobs are); CPS includes agricultural/domestic/self-employed not in QCEW. CPS microdata fields: PWSSWGT/PRTAGE/PESEX/PRDTRACE/PEHSPNON/PEEDUCA/PEMLR/PRUNTYPE/PRERNWA/OFFPOV/POVLL/PRCITSHP. IPUMS-CPS harmonized microdata back to 1962; raw files at census.gov/data/datasets; FRED: UNRATE/U6RATE/CIVPART/LNS11000000; BLS LAUS for state-level unemployment. Python FRED API + BLS LAUS API: state unemployment/poverty/LFPR table with YoY change.
DOL ETA weekly UI claims (Thursday 8:30am): initial claims SA (ICSA) + continuing claims SA (CCSA/CC4WSA). 53 jurisdictions: 50 states + DC + PR + VI. COVID peak: 6.9M initial claims week of April 4 2020 (prior record 695k, Oct 1982); continuing claims peak 24.9M May 2020. CARES Act PUA extended to gig/self-employed. Regular state UI: typically 26 weeks; federal-state Extended Benefits at 6.5%/8% insured unemployment rate trigger. State benefit max: Mississippi $235/wk to Massachusetts $1,050/wk. Recipiency rate ~27% of unemployed in normal times. FRED series: ICSA, ICNSA, CCSA, CC4WSA at fred.stlouisfed.org; DOL ETA-539/5159 forms; DOL bulk at oui.doleta.gov/unemploy/claims.asp. BLS UI-vs-CPS distinction: UI = administrative benefit recipients vs. CPS = household survey unemployed. Python FRED API ICSA 2019-present + COVID peak detection + 52-week rolling average.
Labor and workplace · Economy and demographics · Federal data
BLS QCEW (Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages): joint BLS-state partnership using UI administrative tax records. ~11M establishment records/quarter, ~95% of all US civilian employment. Excludes self-employed, military, elected officials, railroad (RRB), some agricultural. Key fields: area_fips (2-digit state, 5-digit county, MSA, US), industry_code (NAICS 2-6 digit), own_code (0=total, 1=federal, 2=state, 3=local, 5=private), disclosure_code (N=suppressed when <3 establishments or 1 employer >80% wages), avg_weekly_wage, month1/2/3_emplvl, total_qtrly_wages, taxable_qtrly_wages. Geographic coverage: national, 51 states+DC, 3,200+ counties, 380+ MSAs. QCEW vs. CES: QCEW is the administrative universe (5-month lag), CES is the sample survey (1-month lag); CES March benchmark revisions align to QCEW. 2024 benchmark revision: -818,000 downward revision to CES (QCEW showed slower job growth than CES estimated). Location Quotient: (county industry share) / (national share); LQ>1 = local specialization. Three data access paths: BLS API series IDs, QCEW cross-sectional API at data.bls.gov/cew/api/, bulk flat files at blsdownload.bls.gov (~500MB/quarter compressed). Python QCEW API private sector 2-digit NAICS: employment/wage table by supersector + LQ demo + YoY wage growth.
BLS CES (Current Employment Statistics): monthly payroll survey of ~140,000 businesses and ~440,000 worksites covering ~34% of all nonfarm payroll. Two surveys: CES (establishment, payroll jobs) + CPS (household, unemployment rate). Released first Friday of each month at 8:30am ET. Headline: total nonfarm payroll employment; also private payrolls, manufacturing, AHE (average hourly earnings), AWH (average weekly hours). NAICS supersectors: Mining/Logging, Construction, Manufacturing (durable/nondurable), Trade/Transport/Utilities, Information, Financial Activities, Professional/Business Services, Education/Health, Leisure/Hospitality, Other Services, Government. Series ID format: CEU + supersector + industry + data type (01=employment, 03=hours, 11=AHE). Examples: CEU0000000001 (total nonfarm), CEU3000000001 (manufacturing), CEU7000000001 (leisure/hospitality), CEU0500000011 (private AHE). Reference week = week containing the 12th. Three estimates: preliminary (T+30 days), first revision (T+60), second revision (T+90). March annual benchmark revision aligns to QCEW administrative records. COVID: April 2020 -20.5M jobs (worst single month ever); Great Recession trough Feb 2010 -8.7M from Jan 2008 peak. BLS API: api.bls.gov/publicAPI/v2/timeseries/data/, 500 series/query with key, 10 years. ADP preview released 2 days before. AHE ~$35/hr all private (2024); real wage growth = AHE minus CPI. Python BLS API 20-series fetch + supersector employment table with YoY change + AHE/AWH block + COVID recovery tracker.
BLS OEWS (Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics): semi-annual survey of 1.1M non-farm establishments, ~57M workers. Annual release: mean/median wages, 10th-25th-75th-90th percentiles, employment for 830 occupations across 590+ areas (all states, 564+ MSAs, nonmetro areas). SOC 2018: 23 major groups, 6-digit codes. Highest-paying: anesthesiologists ~$331k, oral surgeons ~$317k, OB/GYN ~$296k, CEOs ~$246k. Data fields: area_type (1=national, 2=state, 3=MSA), occ_code, o_group (major/minor/broad/detailed), emp, h_mean/a_mean, h_median/a_median, h_pct10/h_pct90/a_pct10/a_pct90, emp_prse, mean_prse. Special symbols: * = above $208k cap, # = employment suppressed. Access: bls.gov/oes/tables.htm bulk zip files (national/state/MSA); BLS API v2 with complex OEWS series IDs. Industry-occupation matrix: SWE in finance vs. tech vs. manufacturing. Projections link: NEM 2022-2032 (wind turbine techs +60%, nurse practitioners +46%, data scientists +35%). Python: downloads national zip, ranks Computer & Math occupations by wage, computes percentile spread healthcare vs. tech.
Social Security OASDI (Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance) pays ~$1.4T annually to ~70M beneficiaries. Three components: OASI (~58M, ~$1.2T), DI (~8.8M, ~$160B), SSI (~7.5M, ~$65B, means-tested). Trust funds: OASI ~$2.75T invested in special-issue Treasuries; 2034 projected OASI depletion (77% payable). FICA tax: 6.2%+6.2% on wages up to $168,600 (2024). Benefit formula: AIME computed from 35 highest-earning years indexed to AWI; PIA = 90% of AIME to first bend point + 32% between bend points + 15% above second. FRA: 67 (born 1960+); early at 62 with ~30% reduction; DRCs +8%/year to 70. 2024 bend points: $1,174/$7,078. SSA data: data.ssa.gov — Monthly Statistical Snapshot, Annual Statistical Supplement (Table 5.A state-level beneficiaries, Table 4.B DI allowance rates, Table 6.C SSI by state), state/county OASDI CSV. FRED series: SSASSHDI, SSARECEIPTSDISABILITY. Disability sequential evaluation: SGA → severe impairment → Blue Book listings → RFC → past relevant work → vocational grids. ALJ hearing backlog ~1M. WEP/GPO eliminated January 2025 (Social Security Fairness Act) for 3.2M workers. Here is trust fund mechanics, AIME/PIA formula, DI determination process, state data API, and a Python analysis of retired-worker benefit penetration rates by state.
Economy and demographics · Labor and workplace · Federal data
The Census PEP produces annual population estimates for all 3,100+ counties and 50 states using a cohort-component model: base census + births - deaths + net migration. Florida gained 2.1M residents 2020-2023; Texas gained 2.4M; NYC lost ~500K from 2020 peak. Here is the components-of-change methodology, TIGER geography linkage, vintage year vs. decennial census reconciliation, Census API pep/population endpoint, and a Python script ranking counties by population growth rate with net migration decomposition.
SAIPE produces annual model-based poverty estimates for all 3,100+ counties and 13,000+ school districts — the only single-year official source at that geography. It drives ~$17B in annual Title I-A education funding and the $3.5B CDBG formula. The model combines ACS, IRS EITC filers, SNAP counts, and CPS via small area estimation. The Census API exposes county and school-district poverty rates and median household income back to 1989 via a single endpoint.
Economy and demographics · Research and education · Federal data
The Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) program subsidizes rent for ~2.3 million households at ~$30B/year, administered by ~2,200 local PHAs. HUD publishes Fair Market Rents (FMRs) annually for ~2,600 areas at the 40th percentile of gross rent (2024: NYC 2BR $2,765, rural MS $725). Only ~25% of eligible households receive assistance due to funding caps; waitlists run 1–10 years. The HUD Picture of Subsidized Households (PASH) provides tract-level data on income, demographics, and voucher concentration for spatial analysis.
The AHS is a biennial panel survey (~60,000 housing units) covering structural quality, condition deficiencies, heating fuel, plumbing, and neighborhood characteristics — the deepest housing-unit dataset in the US. Tracking the same units since 1973 reveals: plumbing inadequacy fell from 4.5% to under 0.5%; owner-occupancy peaked at 69% (2004–05) and troughed at 63% (2016); new single-family median size grew from 1,500 to 2,300+ sq ft. HUD uses AHS microdata for the biennial Worst Case Housing Needs report (8.5M households in 2023).
The BLS Employment Cost Index (ECI) measures quarterly changes in employer compensation costs (wages + benefits) using fixed employment weights — eliminating the industry-mix distortion that afflicts Average Hourly Earnings. Private-industry wages peaked at ~5.7% YoY in mid-2022 before decelerating to ~4.2% by end-2023; the Fed's comfort level is ~3.5% consistent with 2% PCE inflation. The ECI benefits breakdown (ECEC release) shows health insurance at ~$3.50–$4.00/hour and total benefits at ~31% of compensation. A Q1 2024 upside ECI surprise directly delayed Fed rate cut timing.
DOL publishes initial and continuing unemployment insurance claims every Thursday at 8:30 AM ET, covering 53 state programs. Initial claims peaked at 6.87 million for the week ending March 28, 2020 — dwarfing the prior record of 695,000 (1982). Pre-COVID lows of ~200,000 (2018–2019) were the lowest since 1969. The 4-week moving average smooths weather and auto-plant retooling noise. FRED series ICSA, ICNSA, and CC4WSA provide full history back to 1967.
Labor and workplace · Economy and demographics · Federal data
The Census Bureau Foreign Trade Division compiles monthly import/export statistics from CBP ACE entry data and AES electronic export filings. 2023: goods exports $2.02T, imports $3.08T, deficit $1.06T. Data drills to 10-digit HS/Schedule B codes by country and port. Section 301 China tariffs 2018–2019 reduced the US-China goods deficit from $419B to $279B but shifted sourcing to Vietnam, Mexico, and Taiwan. The Census API (api.census.gov/data/timeseries/intltrade/) and USA Trade Online enable country-HS-month-level analysis.
Social Security's OASDI program (Old Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance) paid $1.4T in benefits to ~70 million recipients in 2024, funded by 6.2% FICA payroll tax on wages up to $168,600. The benefit formula converts 35 highest indexed earning years into AIME, then applies progressive bend points (90%/32%/15%) to compute PIA. Full Retirement Age is 67 for those born 1960+; early claiming at 62 permanently reduces benefits 25-30%; delayed claiming to 70 adds 8%/year. The 2024 Trustees Report projects OASI trust fund depletion in 2033, after which revenues cover ~77% of scheduled benefits. SSA publishes 700+ statistical tables in the Annual Statistical Supplement, monthly snapshots at data.ssa.gov, and the Social Security Statement via my.ssa.gov.
The Current Population Survey (CPS) interviews ~60,000 households monthly to produce the official unemployment rate and, via the March ASEC supplement (~95,000 households), the official US poverty rate. The official poverty measure (OPM) uses 1960s Orshansky thresholds adjusted only for CPI ($30,900 for a family of 4 in 2023, 11.1% poverty rate). The Supplemental Poverty Measure (SPM) adds SNAP, housing subsidies, and EITC while subtracting taxes, yielding 12.9% in 2023 — more policy-sensitive. Median household income was ~$80,610 in 2023. IPUMS CPS harmonizes all CPS waves back to 1962; the Census API exposes state-level poverty rates programmatically.
The BEA's International Transactions Accounts (ITAs) record all economic flows between US residents and the rest of the world. In 2023, the US ran a goods deficit of ~$1.06T, offset partially by a services surplus of ~$293B and net primary income of +$196B, for a total current account deficit of ~$905B (3.3% of GDP). The US's net international investment position stood at -$20.6T — yet the US earns positive net primary income because US assets abroad yield higher returns ("exorbitant privilege"). The BEA ITA API exposes quarterly data on all current account components back to 1960.
The Federal Reserve Z.1 (formerly Flow of Funds) publishes quarterly financial assets and liabilities for all US economic sectors. Here is the household net worth data ($156T 2021 peak, ~$8T 2022 decline from rate hikes), the Distributional Financial Accounts showing top 1% hold ~31% of wealth vs. bottom 50% at ~3%, the two-sided sectoral balance accounting identity, corporate leverage, Table B.101 residential real estate at market value ($25T to $43T 2019–2024), the $26T+ Treasury liability position, Rest of World holdings, FRED mnemonic guide, and a Python FRED API script pulling household net worth with CPI deflation and NBER recession shading.
Finance and markets · Economy and demographics · Federal data
The Census LEHD program links UI wage records for 95%+ of private workers to employer and household records, producing the Quarterly Workforce Indicators (employment/payroll/hires/separations by county × industry × age × sex × education), LODES origin-destination commuting matrices (block-to-block home-work pairs), job-to-job flow statistics (7–10% earnings premium from voluntary job switching), and business dynamics data. Here is how LEHD differs from QCEW/CES/ACS, the COVID remote-work reshaping of OD commute flows, the great resignation mobility spike, OnTheMap and LEHD Explorer tools, and a Python Census QWI API script analyzing young construction worker employment by county.
Economy and demographics · Labor and workplace · Federal data
The BEA Regional Accounts allocate national economic totals to states, counties, and MSAs: GDP by State (annual/quarterly, NAICS detail, post-COVID TX/FL leading growth), Personal Income by State (quarterly, five-component decomposition of labor/capital/transfers), Personal Income by County (~3,100 counties annually, CAINC1 table), and GDP by MSA (~380 MSAs, NYC at $2T+ vs. rural laggards). Here is the energy boom-bust signal (North Dakota Bakken GDP doubled 2007–2014 then collapsed), the high-income state tax migration effect (California 13.3% vs. Texas/Florida 0%), transfer payment COVID surge and unwinding, BEA Regional API parameters, and a Python script ranking states by 2010–2024 per-capita personal income growth.
The Energy Information Administration is the primary federal authority for US energy data, publishing the market-moving Short-Term Energy Outlook, the Weekly Petroleum Status Report (Cushing OK crude stocks that move WTI crude prices $1–2/barrel), the Natural Gas Storage Report (five-region EIA-914 data), EIA-860 and EIA-923 power plant databases (15,000+ generators, monthly fuel consumption and generation), the Electric Power Monthly, Petroleum Supply Monthly, and the EIA Open Data API (500,000+ series). Here is the 2019 US net petroleum export milestone, the 2022 European energy crisis Henry Hub spike to $9/MMBtu, and a Python EIA v2 API script pulling WTI crude and Henry Hub weekly prices with a dual-axis chart annotating the 2022 spike.
Environment and energy · Economy and demographics · Federal data
The Census Bureau Building Permits Survey and New Residential Construction release track ~20,000 permit-issuing jurisdictions and ~900 construction sample areas monthly — the primary federal leading indicators for US housing activity. Here is the BPS 96% coverage of US construction, SAAR methodology, permits-to-starts ratio dynamics, the 2006 peak at 2.07M SAAR to 2009 trough at 554K to the 2020–2021 surge to the 2022–2023 pullback as mortgage rates went 3% to 7%, the SFH/multifamily bifurcation, Sun Belt concentration (Texas 15–18%, Florida 10–12%), New Residential Sales contract-signed timing, lumber futures (2021 spike to $1,700/MBF), Census BPS API, and FRED series PERMIT/HOUST/HOUST1F/HOUST5F.
BLS Occupational Employment Data: Wages, Job Counts, and 10-Year Projections for Every US Occupation
The BLS OEWS program publishes wages and employment counts for 830 occupations across 590+ geographies from a 1.1M establishment semiannual survey pooled over 3 years into ~3.3M observations. Here is the data structure (TOT_EMP, hourly/annual wage percentiles 10th–90th, location quotient, entry/experienced wage fields), the Standard Occupational Classification (23 major groups / 459 broad / 867 detailed occupations), top-paying occupations (surgeons $250k+, anesthesiologists, airline pilots), Employment Projections 2022–2032 (fastest-growing: home health aides +924k, NPs, solar installers; fastest-declining: word processors, cashiers), the Occupational Outlook Handbook, O*NET skills crosswalk, wage inequality analysis (90/10 percentile ratio), H-1B prevailing wage connection, and a Python script to analyze healthcare occupation wages from the national OEWS ZIP.
Economy and demographics · Labor and workplace · Federal data
The BLS releases two surveys on “Jobs Friday” (first Friday of each month): the Establishment Survey (580,000 worksites, source of the nonfarm payroll headline) and the Household Survey (60,000 households, source of the unemployment rate). Here is why the two surveys often diverge, how the net birth/death model handles new businesses, the three-tier revision cycle including the annual benchmark (the January 2024 benchmark removed 818,000 jobs from the prior year), X-13ARIMA-SEATS seasonal adjustment, industry-level dynamics (healthcare adding jobs through every recession, the COVID −20.5M single-month collapse), the 8:30 AM release market impact, and a Python BLS API script to download total nonfarm payroll and plot recession bars.
Economy and demographics · Labor and workplace · Federal data
The Bureau of Labor Statistics Survey of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses surveys ~230,000 establishments annually to produce the only national count of workplace injuries and illnesses. Here is the Total Recordable Incidence Rate formula, OSHA recordkeeping requirements (Form 300 Log, 300A Summary, 301 Incident Report), the case-and-demographic microdata for individual injury characteristics, the Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries as the companion fatal census (~5,500/year, construction’s fatal four), the musculoskeletal disorder supplement, the pervasive underreporting problem (academic research shows 40–69% capture rate), and a Python BLS API script to compare TRIR across construction, manufacturing, and healthcare.
Economy and demographics · Labor and workplace · Federal data
HUD’s annual Point-in-Time count, conducted over the last 10 days of January by ~400 Continuum of Care regions, is the only national census of homelessness in the US. Here is the sheltered vs. unsheltered methodology, the 2023 count of 653,100 (the highest since reporting began), California’s 28% share, the Homeless Management Information System as the longitudinal individual-level tracking database, veteran homelessness (37,000+ and the HUD-VASH voucher program), the chronic homeless definition (12+ months or 4+ episodes), methodological limitations (January weather, volunteer variation, doubled-up household exclusion), Housing First policy evidence, and a Python script to download HUD Exchange PIT CSVs and compute per-capita homeless rates by state.
USCIS adjudicates ~8 million petitions annually and publishes detailed statistics on every immigration benefit category. Here is the naturalization data (~800–900K/year by country of birth), the employment-based green card per-country 7% cap that creates 40+ year backlogs for Indian nationals (EB-2 India priority date ~2012), the H-1B lottery (470K registrations for 85K slots in FY2025), the 1.7M+ affirmative asylum backlog, DACA quarterly recipient counts by state, the EOIR immigration court 3.3M+ case backlog with judge-level grant rate variation, DHS Yearbook of Immigration Statistics, and a Python USCIS naturalization Excel workbook analysis.
Federal data · Justice and immigration · Economy and demographics
The BLS American Time Use Survey has tracked 24-hour time diaries for ~10,000 Americans annually since 2003 — the only federal dataset measuring time allocation across all life activities. Here is the 17 major activity categories and ATUS Lexicon coding, the gender gap (women average 2+ hours/day more household/caregiving vs. men's more leisure and paid work), parental intensive childcare trends, the 2020 COVID shift to remote work (42% working from home), leisure inequality by education (TV vs. reading/exercise divergence), the Well-Being and Eating & Health special modules, IPUMS-ATUS for harmonized cross-year access, and a Python weighted gender gap analysis.
The BLS Multifactor Productivity (Total Factor Productivity) program measures output growth unexplained by measurable labor and capital inputs — the Solow residual that captures technological progress. Here is the growth accounting decomposition, the historical MFP episodes (1.5%/year golden age 1948–73, the productivity slowdown, the 1995–2004 IT revival, the post-2004 deceleration), the Hall-Jorgenson capital services methodology, labor vs. MFP distinction and its implications for real wage growth, unit labor costs as the core services inflation driver (peaked 2022, recovered 2023), the AI productivity hypothesis, FRED series IDs (OPHNFB, ULCNFB), and a Python BLS API dual-axis chart.
The BLS Producer Price Index measures average change in selling prices received by domestic producers — the upstream complement to the consumer-facing CPI, with a 2–3 month leading relationship to goods inflation. Here is the three indexing systems (Final Demand PPI launched 2014, Intermediate Demand stage-of-processing pipeline, traditional commodity-based), the trade services margin methodology, the PPI vs. CPI spread as a retailer margin signal, the 2021–2022 supply chain surge (+22.9% FD goods peak), FRED series IDs (PPIFIS, PPIFAF, PPIFAE, PPICOR, PPIACO), BLS API access, and a Python 4-line chart of the inflation episode by component.
Public Law 94-171 mandates the Census Bureau to deliver block-level population data to states for legislative redistricting by April 1 of the year following the decennial census — the foundational dataset for every congressional and state legislative district. Here is the five data tables (P1–P5, H1), the geographic hierarchy to census block, the one-person-one-vote case law (Reynolds v. Sims, Wesberry v. Sanders), the 2020 apportionment results (Texas +2, New York missed a seat by 89 people), differential privacy and the TopDown Algorithm controversy, the 63-combination race/ethnicity schema, Census API variable naming (P2_006N syntax), VRA Section 2 and the Gingles three-part test, and a Python Census API tract-level racial composition analysis.
The BLS Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey measures the monthly flow of workers into and out of US employment — job openings, hires, quits, and layoffs across 21,000 establishments. Here is the four core metrics, how the quit rate peaked at 3.0% in April 2022 signaling the hottest labor market in decades, the Beveridge Curve rightward shift that revealed labor market frictions, labor hoarding dynamics in 2023, how JOLTS compares to Indeed and LinkedIn alternative measures, FRED series IDs (JTSJOL, JTSHIL, JTSQUL, JTSLAL, JTSQUR), and a Python fredapi Beveridge Curve plot.
Federal data · Economy and demographics · Labor and workplace
The IRS Statistics of Income program has published aggregated tax return statistics since 1916 — the definitive federal source on income distribution, effective tax rates, deductions, and credits. Here is the individual 1040 AGI class tables, the Piketty-Saez top 1% income share data, EITC distribution, estate tax stepped-up basis issue, corporate SOI and TCJA effective rate dynamics, and the restricted-use Public Use File for microsimulation.
Federal data · Transparency and open data · Economy and demographics
The Home Mortgage Disclosure Act requires most mortgage lenders to publicly disclose every application, origination, and denial — with loan amount, property location, applicant race/ethnicity, income, pricing, DTI, LTV, and AUS results. Here is the full post-2018 field schema, how CFPB and DOJ use denial-rate mapping to build redlining cases (Trustmark, Cadence, City National), the denial reason codes, HMDA Platform API, CRA examination connections, and a Python disparity-ratio analysis by county.
Federal data · Finance and markets · Economy and demographics
The American Community Survey sends questionnaires to 3.5 million addresses per year — replacing the decennial long form with continuous annual estimates. Here is the 1-year vs. 5-year distinction, the full social/economic/housing/demographic variable taxonomy, margin of error and coefficient of variation thresholds, Census API variable naming conventions (B19013_001E syntax), key tables for income/poverty/rent/race/commute, and a Python census-tract rent burden analysis.
BLS CPI: The Consumer Price Index and the Federal Inflation Measurement Behind Every Policy Decision
The BLS Consumer Price Index has tracked the price level for urban consumers since 1913 — the primary US inflation gauge driving Social Security COLAs ($1.4T/year in indexed spending), wage negotiations, and Fed policy. Here is CPI-U vs. CPI-W vs. Chained CPI, the basket weights (shelter 35%, the OER methodology debate), CPI vs. PCE deflator gap, the 2021–2023 9.1% peak episode, FRED series IDs, BLS API access, and a Python chart tracking the inflation episode by component.
The FHFA HPI tracks single-family home price changes using repeat-sales methodology on conforming mortgages purchased by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac — back to 1975, with national, state, MSA, and ZIP code coverage. Here is the weighted repeat-sales methodology, the conforming loan limit boundary, expanded-data HPI with FHA additions, the 40%+ pandemic price surge, FHFA vs. Case-Shiller vs. Zillow distinctions, and a Python script for state-level YoY appreciation rankings.
County Business Patterns is the Census Bureau's annual series on US business activity at the county–NAICS level, published since 1964 — establishment counts by size class, mid-March employment, and first-quarter payroll for every county. Here is the Business Register source, noise infusion disclosure methodology, the Nonemployer Statistics companion series, CBP vs. QCEW vs. Economic Census distinctions, Business Dynamics Statistics, Census API access, and how to compute manufacturing location quotients by county.
The BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics program covers 800+ occupations across every industry and geography — the most comprehensive source for occupation-level wage percentiles in the US. Here is the survey methodology, full SOC hierarchy, wage percentile fields (10th through 90th), the H-1B prevailing wage Level I–IV connection, OEWS vs. CPS vs. QCEW distinctions, and a Python script for ranking the highest-paid tech occupations.
The BEA National Income and Product Accounts are the official measure of US economic output, income, and spending — updated three times per year with advance, second, and third estimates. Here is the C+I+G+(X-M) expenditure identity, every GDP component in depth, real vs. nominal GDP, GDP by State and GDP by Industry breakdowns, the BEA API query structure, and FRED series IDs as the easiest access path.
The BLS Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages covers 97%+ of US jobs at the county–NAICS industry level — the most granular federal employment dataset available. Here is the QCEW vs. CES vs. LAUS distinctions, the suppression rules for counties with fewer than three establishments, average weekly wage by sector, BLS bulk CSV download structure, and a Python snippet for the highest-wage industries by county.
The Low-Income Housing Tax Credit has financed 50,000+ projects and 3.5M+ affordable units since 1986 — the largest US affordable housing subsidy. Here is the HUD LIHTC database schema, the 9% vs. 4% credit mechanics, how State HFA Qualified Allocation Plans shape development geography, the National Housing Preservation Database complement, and how to compute units per capita by state.
All topics: the writing index.