February Publication Schedule & Web Sources

THE BE YOUR OWN ECONOMIST ® BLOG

Here’s February’s tentative economic-indicator publication schedule, followed by a list of web sources. Future postings will discuss some of these indicators.

You can use the WEB SOURCES listing to find the data on your own and read the accompanying press release. The addresses take you to the source’s home page and the steps tell you how to navigate the site. That way (rather than provide a direct link to the data) you can become familiar with these sites and find additional information on your own.

PUBLICATION SCHEDULE

February 2008

Source (* below)…………Series Description…………Day & Date

Quarterly Data

BEA…………………………GDP……………………...……Thu, 28th
BLS…………………………Productivity……………...…Wed, 6th

Monthly Data

ISM………………………….Purchasing managers’ index….Fri, 1st
BLS………………………….Employment……………………Fri, 1st
Fed…………………………..Consumer credit……………..Thu, 7th
Census……………………...Balance of trade………………Thu, 14th
Census……………………...Retail trade…………………….Wed, 13th
Census……………………...Inventories……………………..Wed, 13th
Fed…………………………..Industrial production……….Fri, 15th
Fed………………………….Capacity utilization…………….Fri, 15th
Census……………………..Housing starts………………….Wed, 20th
BLS………………………….Consumer prices……………...Wed, 20th
Conf Bd…………………….Leading Indicators…………….Thu , 21st
NAR…………………………Existing-home sales…….…….Mon, 25th
BLS………………………….Producer prices……………….Tue, 26th
Conf Bd…………………….Consumer confidence…………Tue, 26th
Census…………………….Capital goods……………….…..Wed, 27th
Census……………………..New-home sales……………….Wed, 27th
BEA…………………………Personal income………………Fri, 29th

* BEA = Bureau of Economic Analysis of the U.S. Department of Commerce
* Census = U.S. Bureau of the Census
* Conf Bd = Conference Board
* Fed = Federal Reserve System
* ISM = Institute for Supply Management
* NAR = National Association of Realtors

WEB SOURCES

Index of Leading Economic Indicators: http://www.conference-board.org/
Step 1: Click on "Economics" in the left-hand menu bar
Step 2: Click on "Economic Indicators" under "Economics" in the left-hand menu bar
Step 3: Click on link under "U.S. Leading Indicators"

Gross Domestic Product: http://www.bea.gov/
Step 1: Click on "Gross Domestic Product" under "National"
Step 2: Click on "National Income and Product Accounts Tables" under "Gross Domestic Product (GDP)"
Step 3: Click on "list of all NIPA Tables"
Step 4: Click on "Table 1.1.6. Real Gross Domestic Product..." and "Table 1.1.1. Percent Change..."
Step 5: Scroll down to line 1 in both tables and go to the last column on the right

Industrial Production & Capacity Utilization: http://www.federalreserve.gov/
Step 1: Click on "All Statistical Releases" under "Recent Statistical Releases" and then click on "Industrial Production and Capacity Utilization" under "Principal Economic Indicators" in the upper left
Step 2: Click on "Current Monthly Release"
Step 3: Find the latest monthly data in the table next to "Total index" and "Total industry"

Institute For Supply Management Index: http://www.ism.ws/
Step 1: Click on "ISM Report on Business" in left-hand menu bar
Step 2: Click on “Latest Manufacturing ROB” and find the latest PMI

Producer Prices:
http://stats.bls.gov/
Step 1: Click on “Producer Price Indexes” under “Inflation & Consumer Spending” in left-hand menu bar
Step 2: Note "Finished goods" under "Latest Numbers" in upper right and multiply by 12 to put the data on an annual basis

Business Capital Expenditures (Nondefense Capital Goods): http://www.census.gov/
Step 1: Click on "Economic Indicators" in the lower right
Step 2: Click on "PDF" on the left under "Advance Report on Durable Goods Manufacturers' Shipments and Orders"
Step 3: Scroll down to Table 1 and find new orders for nondefense capital goods near the bottom

Inventories, Sales & Inventory/Sales Ratio: http://www.census.gov/
Step 1: Click on "Economic Indicators" in the lower right
Step 2: Click on "HTML" on the left under "Manufacturing and Trade Inventories and Sales" Step 3: Scroll down to Table 1 and subtract previous month's inventories from latest month's and multiply by 12 to obtain inventory change, and then obtain the most recent inventory/sales ratio

Consumer Price Index: http://stats.bls.gov/
Step 1: Click on “Consumer Price Index” under “Inflation & Consumer Spending” in left-hand menu bar
Step 2: Note "CPI-U..." at the top under "Latest Numbers" in upper right and multiply "SA" by 12 to put the data on an annual basis

Employment Data (Total Non-farm Payroll Employment) (Unemployment Rate) (Manufacturing Workweek): http://stats.bls.gov/
Step 1: Click on “National Employment” under “Employment & Unemployment” in right-hand menu bar
Step 2: Click on (HTML) following “Employment Situation Summary” under "Economic News Releases"
Step 3: Click on “Employment Situation Summary” under “Table of Contents”
Step 4: Scroll down to Table A and find the unemployment rate for all workers in the latest month, the change in nonfarm employment in the last column and manufacturing hours of work for the latest month

Personal Income: http://www.bea.gov/
Step 1: Click on "Gross Domestic Product" under "National"
Step 2: Click on "National Income and Product Accounts Tables" under "Gross Domestic Product (GDP)"
Step 3: Click on "list of all NIPA Tables"
Step 4: Click on "Table 2.6 Personal Income..."
Step 5: Scroll down to line 1

Consumer Confidence: http://www.conference-board.org/
Step 1: Click on the "Economics" in the left-hand menu bar
Step 2: Click on "Economic Indicators" under "Economics" in the left-hand menu bar
Step 3: Click on link under "Consumer Confidence Index"

Consumer Credit
http://www.federalreserve.gov/
Step 1: Click on "All Statistical Releases" under "Recent Statistical Releases" and then click on "Consumer credit -- G19" under "Household Finance" in the upper right
Step 2: Click on "Current Release"
Step 3: Go to "Amount ... billions of dollars" and subtract previous month from current month & multiply by 12 to obtain seasonally adjusted dollar amount at annual rate

Housing Starts: http://www.census.gov/
Step 1: Click on "Economic Indicators" in the lower right
Step 2: Click on "PDF" on the left under "Current Press Release" under "Housing Starts/Building Permits"
Step 3: Scroll down to "Housing Starts"

Home Sales (Existing-Home Sales): http://www.realtor.org/
Step 1: Click on "Research" in the left-hand menu bar
Step 2: Find "Existing-Home Sales" under "Housing Indicators"

Home Sales (New-Home Sales): http://www.census.gov/
Step 1: Click on "Economic Indicators" in the lower right
Step 2: Click on "PDF" on the left under "Current Press Release" under "New Home Sales"

Retail Sales: http://www.census.gov/
Step 1: Click on "Economic Indicators" in the lower right
Step 2: Scroll down to "Advance Monthly Sales for Retail and Food Services" and click on "HTML" on the left under "Current Press Release"

© 2008 Michael B. Lehmann