Economic Indicators
These resources were selected for their authority, ease of use, and accessibility. If you need more assistance, contact the research librarians.
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Contents:
Dictionaries and Handbooks
- Economic Indicators Handbook: Time Series, Conversions, Documentation. 1998
HC101. E385 (Business Reference)
- Guide to Economic Indicators. 2006
HC103. F9 (Business Reference)
- Handbook of Key Economic Indicators. 1998
HC 103 .R64 1998 (Business Reference)
- Handbook of United States Economic and Financial Indicators. 2000
HC106.8 O47 (Business Reference)
Includes 248 indicators. Each entry provides a brief description of the indicator; a depiction of how it is derved or calculated; a characterization of its use and a table of sources that furnish values for the indicator. The source tables give the title of the publication where values for the indicator can be found.
- Oxford Dictionary of Economics
Click on Economics and Business
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Sources for Data
- Bloomberg
Business Electronic Resources (Library Use Only)
Online database providing current and historical financial quotes, business newswires, and descriptive information, research and statistics on over 52,000 companies worldwide. Located on three standalone workstations in the Business and Economics Library. Printing is available. Downloading is not available. For search help see our Bloomberg Help Guide
- Datastream
Business Electronic Resources (Library Use Only)
Large database of statistical time series covering stocks, bonds, commodities and economic data for numerous countries, along with company profiles. See the notebook at the workstation for instructions. Coverage varies by dataset. Also available in the Electronic Data Service (EDS) in Lehman Library.
- CEIC Data Manager
CEIC Data contains economic, industrial and financial time-series data and cover over 60 countries. Data comes from analysts on the ground and the prime national and regional statistical agencies and major industrial data issuing organizations of each country covered.
- EIU Country Data
An analytical database of worldwide economic indicators and forecasts, covering more than 270 statistical variable in series for each of 115 countries. Data can be manipulated, displayed, graphed, analyzed and downloaded in various formats. Major data categories include economic structure, foreign payments, external debt stock, external debt service, external trade, trends in foreign trade, quarterly indicators.
- Global Development Finance Online
Global Development Finance Online (GDF) provides data on more than 200 external debt and financial flow indicators for the 134 countries that report public and publicly-guaranteed debt to the World Bank Debtor Reporting System. The time series data run from 1970 to 2016, where available.
- Global Financial Data
Global Financial Data contains historical financial and economic data on 200 countries. Data includes:long-term historical indices on stock markets; total teturn data on stocks, bonds, and bills; interest rates; exchange rates; inflation rates; bond indices; commodity indices and prices.
- Global Insight
Time series, economic and business data for the United states and international economies. Coverage varies with indicator.
- International Financial Statistics
The IFS database contains approximately 32,000 time series covering more than 200 countries and areas and includes all series appearing on the IFS Country Pages; exchange rate series for all Fund member countries, plus Aruba and the Netherlands Antilles; major Fund accounts series; and most other world, area, and country series from the IFS World Tables.
- SourceOECD
The online publications portal of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). Includes all OECD books, reports, periodicals and statistical databases. Coverage: 1988 to the present, updated weekly.
- STAT-USA
Choose "State of the Nation" to access "General Economic Indicators", including:
Composite Index of Leading Coincident and Lagging Indicators; Consumer Price Index; Economic Indicators Summary; Gross Domestic Product; Gross State Product; Personal Income and Outlays; Producer Price Index; Productivity and Cost Real Earnings; US Export Sales (USDA); US Import and Export Price Indexes; US International Trade in Goods and Services
- UNdata
More than 450 statistical time series for countries from around the world covering a wide range of economic and socio-demographic topics. Descriptions of the international sources and definitions used in compiling the data are included.
- World Development Indicators
WDI Online is a comprehensive database on development data covering 575 indicators, 225 countries, and 18 regional and income groups. The extensive collection of development data includes population, income, social, economic, financial, natural resources, and environmental indicators for more than forty years (1960 to 2000, where data are available).
Articles, Journals, and Working Papers
- CEPR Discussion Papers
Over 3000 Discussion Paper Abstracts are currently available online and all Discussion Papers published since the beginning of 1999 (i.e. from No2050)
- EconLit
http://www.columbia.edu/cu/lweb/eresources/databases/1979828.html
Comprehensive, indexed bibliography of worldwide literature on economics from over 300 major economics journals, books, and collected volumes. Coverage: 1969-present
- NBER Working Papers
http://www.columbia.edu/cu/lweb/eresources/databases/2350600.html
Contains the full-text of working papers from the National Bureau of Economics Research. The NBER covers four areas of empirical research: developing new statistical measurements, estimating quantitative models of economic behavior, assessing the effects of public policies on the U.S. economy, and projecting the effects of alternative policyproposals. Many of its publications, including its working papers, NBER reporter, and NBER digest, are available for download.
- SourceOECD
http://www.columbia.edu/cu/lweb/eresources/databases/3003554.html
The online publications portal of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). Includes all OECD books, reports, periodicals and statistical databases. Coverage: 1988 to the present, updated weekly.
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Commonly Cited Sources
- ALFRED™: ArchivaL Federal Reserve Economic Data from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
Users can retrieve vintage versions of data that were available on specific dates in history. In general, economic data for past observation periods are revised as more accurate estimates become available. As a result, previous vintages of data can be superseded and may no longer be available from various data sources. Vintage data allows academics to reproduce others' research, build more accurate forecasting models, and analyze economic policy decisions using the data available at the time.
- Beige Book
Published by the Federal Reserve Board, this publication analyzes the overall economic prospects of each of the 12 federal reserve districts.
- Business Cycle Indicators
From the Conference Board, a report commonly called the leading indicators or leading economic indicators, index, its components, and two other composite indexes--the coincident and lagging indexes--are used by economists to measure business cycles and as an early warning system for recessions.
- Business Statistics of the United States
HF105 .B87 (Reference)
US Bureau of Economic Analysis historical data and methodological notes for many of the series that appear in its Survey of Current Business. Monthly, quarterly, and annual data; latest 25-35 years. Good source for GNP Price Deflator.
- CPI Detailed Report
Print: Slot C- 070 (Current Serials)
US Bureau of Labor Statistics monthly report on consumer price movement; includes CPI for urban consumers (CPI-U) and CPI for wage earners and clerical workers (CPI-W); latest 4 months in each issue. Good source for Inflation Rate.
- Economic Accounts
Print: Slot E - 270 (Current Serials)
Prepared for the U.S. Congress Joint Economic Committee by the Council of Economic Advisors. Weekly data; latest 6 weeks. Monthly data; latest 13 months. Annual data; latest 6-10 years. Good source for Per Capita Income.
- Economic Report of the President
Print: HC 106.5 .U5 A121 (Reference)
The first part contains a narrative analysis of economic issues and conditions. The latter contains over 100 statistical tables which track the most important economic indicators. Each offers monthly or quarterly data for the previous two or three years together with over 20 years of annual data.
- Federal Reserve Bulletin
Print: Slot F-350 (Current Serials)
Articles from the Federal Reserve Bulletin. These articles report and analyze economic developments, discuss bank regulatory issues, and present new data. Issues back 1997.
- FRED™ II (Federal Reserve Economic Data)
A database of over 1000 U.S. economic time series. With FRED II you can download data in Microsoft Excel and text formats and view charts of data series.
- International Financial Statistics
The IFS database contains approximately 32,000 time series covering more than 200 countries and areas and includes all series appearing on the IFS Country Pages; exchange rate series for all Fund member countries, plus Aruba and the Netherlands Antilles; major Fund accounts series; and most other world, area, and country series from the IFS World Tables.
- Monthly Labor Review
Print: Slot M-660 (Current Serials)
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics publication. Monthly data: latest 12-13 months; Annual data: latest 9 years. Good source for the unemployment rate.
- PPI Detailed Report (Producer Price Indexes)
Print: Slot P-475 (Current Serials)
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics monthly report on producer price movement; latest 2 months in each issue; and annual supplement contains monthly data for calendar year, annual averages, and information on weights. Best source for the Producer Price Index.
- Statistical Abstract of the United States
Current volume in the Reference stacks; earlier editions in stacks at HA 202 .Un31.
U.S. Bureau of the Census annual data for the latest 10-40 years. Good source for Inflation Rate and Per Capita Income.
- Survey of Current Business
Print: Slot B-842 (Current Serials)
U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis publication. Monthly data: latest 13 months; annual data: latest 2 years; Compilations of historical data are in Business Statistics. Good source for Dow Jones Averages.
Selected Websites
- Daily Treasury Statements
The Daily Treasury Statements summarize the financial activities of the Federal Government and off-budget Federal entities in accordance with the Budget of the U.S. Government. Available in both PDF and ASCII format. Uploaded daily except for weekends and holidays. The electronic version of the DTS is available three days after its printed paper counterpart. The visual display of the PDF version is identical to its printed counterpart.
- Eco5.com
Free website containing historical economic data, forecasts and market overviews
- Economic growth resources
Links to a wide variety of resources related to economic growth, including data sets and journals.
- EH.net
EH.net is the home of Economic History Services on the web. Includes a wide array of historical time series data available free. Also houses the Economic History fileserver, and contains resources including bibliographies, course syllabi, directories and book reviews.
- Government Statistics Briefing Room
The purpose of this service is to provide easy access to current Federal economic indicators. It provides links to information produced by a number of Federal agencies. All of the information included in the Economic Statistics Briefing Room is maintained and updated by the statistical units of those agencies. All the estimates for the indicators presented in the Federal Statistics Briefing Rooms are the most currently available values.
- FedStats
Links to key statistics available from more than 70 Federal agencies, arranged alphabetically by topic, with keyword search capability.
- FedWorld
This site provides an entry way to access U.S. Government information online.
- Institute for International Economics
The Institute for International Economics is a "private, nonprofit, nonpartisan research institution devoted to the study of international economic policy." This web site contains short abstracts and press releases of books published by the Institute. Speeches, testimonies and essays by the staff at the Institute on a variety of international economics issues are also available as is a collection of working papers published since 1994.
- Monthly Economic Indicators
From the U.S. government, provides statistical data including Gross Domestic Product, consumer and producer price indexes, retail and wholesale trade, industrial production, building permits and housing starts, new construction and foreign trade.
- Purchasing Power Profiles (from the University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee)
The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Employment and Training Institute provides comparison data on purchasing power, business activity, and workforce density for all census tracts, residential ZIP codes, and the 100 largest metro areas in the U.S. The profiles are designed to help cities, companies, developers, small business owners, and community organizations assess the advantages of urban density for underserved city neighborhoods.
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 All electronic services are restricted to current students, staff, and faculty at Columbia University, Teachers College, and Barnard College with a current UNI.
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