Government statistics on the Web

Dear Mr. Chairman:

I am writing to express my profound concern and dismay with the appropriations cuts recommended by the Subcommittee on Legislative Appropriations last week and agreed to by the House Appropriations Committee on Tuesday, May 9. The cuts will mean the reduction of 435 skilled GPO personnel and the elimination of public access to a significant body of government information and could jeopardize GPO's ability to support Congress' printing and information product needs.

Salaries and Expenses of the Superintendent of Documents. If enacted, the cut in this appropriation will have a disastrous impact on public access to federal government information by literally dismantling the Federal Depository library Program (FDLP), the government's primary and longest-serving information dissemination activity Every one of the 1,337 depository libraries nationwide will feel the following impacts, as will the estimated 9.5 million people who use these libraries every year:

* The 60 percent reduction in this appropriation will force our library program staff to be cut by nearly two-thirds, affecting 85 skilled information and library specialists and distribution personnel. Many of these employees are recognized throughout the library and information community nationwide for their expertise in the government information field. The loss of their skills and capabilities from the public access arena will be incalculable.

* Altogether, public access to nearly 40,000 titles, or the majority of all titles made available through the program, will be affected. Approximately 25,000 of these titles are available in tangible format only, as determined by their issuing agencies, not the GPO. By requiring all information dissemination to be in online format only, the funding cut will terminate public access to these titles, abruptly ending public access to numerous critically important government information products, including most congressional hearings. Public access via depository libraries to Census 2000 data that will be released in the near future on CDROM will also be eliminated.

* Another 15,000 titles are available in both online and tangible formats, such as the U.S. Code and Supreme Court reports. While electronic access to these titles may continue, the public will not be able to use the printed products, which in many cases are the official, authentic versions of these documents. In an age when public access to these electronic documents is susceptible to a broad range of problems from assurance of permanent availability to vulnerability to computer viruses - continued access in tangible formats remains absolutely essential. And it can be done for relatively little cost: The FDLP prints, catalogs, ships, and provides support services for all tangible formats for about $1.57 per copy, an incredibly efficient performance.

* The funding cut will undermine public access to electronic government information products. It will terminate virtually all depository library support services, including program administration, designations, product acquisition, classification, inspections, training, and consultative services. One of these services involves providing necessary locator services to online government information products. Another involves working with agencies to ensure that new information products are usable by the public. Yet another involves establishing public/private partnerships to ensure the permanent availability of online government information products. The loss of these services will be devastating to electronic public access both today and for the future.

The cut to the Salaries and Expenses Appropriation will have other impacts as well:

* It will eliminate GPO's by-law Distribution Program, under which certain publications specified by public law are distributed at the request of Members of Congress and federal agencies. Agencies that receive statutory copies of publications under this program include the Library of Congress and the National Archives.

* It will virtually eliminate the International Exchange Program. Under international treaty, this program pays for the distribution of U.S. government publications to 71 foreign governments that agree, as indicated by the Library of Congress, to send to the Library similar publications of their governments. Without providing copies of publications for international exchange, the Library is not likely to receive copies of publications from foreign governments. . . .

The letter goes on, making point after valid point. To find out how this politicization of information access ends, go to the American Library Association GODART (Government Documents Round Table) home page [http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/GODO RT/index.html].

In the best of all worlds, when government information is made accessible to the public, it can provide useful, relevant information to businesses, academics, doctors, city governments, and a variety of other users. The list below highlights a number of sources currently easy to access and use.

I have come up with a list of popular, useful, and accessible statistical Web sites, divided them into categories, and provided some basic explanatory text. Most of the text was taken directly from the Web sites themselves.

Statistical Sites on the World Wide Web

General Resources

GovBot

http://ciir2.cs.umass.edu/Govbot/

GovBot is a database of 1,594,012 Web pages from U.S. government and military sites around the country. This site is not limited to statistics, but it does identify sites that end with ".gov" and ".mil."

Federal Statistical Agencies

http://stats.bls.gov/oreother.htm

A general listing of statistical sites on the Web, this site includes an overview of principal U.S. federal statistical agencies and international statistical agencies, arranged by country.

Demographic Data

U.S. Census Bureau

http://www.census.gov/ population/www/

The U.S. Census Bureau traces its stated mission back to the U.S. Constitution. It is the preeminent collector and provider of timely, relevant, and quality data about the people and economy of the United States.

Labor Force Statistics from the Current Population Survey

http://www.bls.gov/cpshome.htm

The CPS, a monthly household survey conducted by the Bureau of the Census for the Bureau of Labor Statistics, provides a comprehensive body of information on the employment and unemployment experience of the nation's population, classified by age, sex, race, and a variety of other characteristics.

Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP)

http://www.sipp.census.gov/ sipp/pubsmain.htm

The SIPP survey collects source and amount of income, labor force information, program participation and eligibility data, and general demographic characteristics to measure the effectiveness of existing federal, state, and local programs; to estimate future costs and coverage for government programs, such as food stamps; and to provide improved statistics on the distribution of income in this country.

Industry Statistics

Consumer Expenditures Survey

http://stats.bls.gov/csxhome.htm

This program consists of two surveys - the quarterly Interview survey and the Diary survey Together, these surveys provide information on the buying habits of American consumers, including data on their expenditures, income, and consumer unit (families and single consumers) characteristics.

Advance Summary Statistics for the United States

http://www.census.gov/epcd/ advance/advanc1a.htm

The economic census is the major source of facts about the structure and functioning of the nation's economy It provides essential information for government, business, industry, and the general public. The economic census furnishes an important part of the framework for such composite measures as the gross domestic product estimates, input/output measures, production and price indexes, and other statistical series that measure shortterm changes in economic conditions.

1997 NAICS and 1987 SIC Correspondence Tables

http://www.census.gov/epcd/ www/naicstab.htm

This page is designed to help you interpret what you find and to bridge between the NAICS and the SIC codes. The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) is replacing the U.S. Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) system. NAICS will reshape the way we view our changing economy NAICS was developed jointly by the U.S., Canada, and Mexico to provide new comparability in statistics about business activity across the North American Free Trade Association (NAFTA).

Economic Indicators

Economic Statistics Briefing Room (ESBR)

http://www.whitehouse.gov/ fsbr/esbr.html

This service provides easy access to current federal economic indicators. It 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.

The Survey of Current Business

http://www.bea.doc.gov/bea/pub/ 0300cont.htm

The Survey of Current Business is the Bureau of Economic Analysis' journal of record. The BEA is an agency of the Department of Commerce. Along with the Census Bureau and STAT-USA, BEA is part of the Department's Economics and Statistics Administration. The mission of BEA is to produce and disseminate accurate, timely, relevant, and cost-effective economic accounts. BEA statistics provide governments, businesses, households, and individuals with a comprehensive, up-to-date picture of economic activity BEA's national, regional, and international economic accounts present basic information on such key issues as U.S. economic growth, regional economic development, and the nation's position in the world economy.

Federal Reserve Bank's Beige Book

http://www.bog.frb.fed.us/FOMC/ Beigebook/2000/

Commonly known as the Beige Book, this report is published eight times per year. Each Federal Reserve Bank gathers anecdotal information on current economic conditions in its District through reports from bank and branch directors and interviews with key business contacts, economists, market experts, and other sources. The Beige Book summarizes this information by district and sector.

Quarterly Labor Productivity

http://stats.bls.gov/lprhome.htm

This Web site delivers quarterly labor productivity measures for the major U.S. economic sectors, including the business sector, the nonfarm business sector, nonfinancial corporations, and manufacturing, along with subsectors of durable and nondurable goods manufacturing.

G.17 Industrial Production and Capacity Utilization

http://www.bog.fed.us/releases/ g17/current/

The Federal Reserve's monthly index of industrial production and related capacity indexes and capacity utilization rates covers manufacturing, mining, and electric and gas utilities. The industrial sector, together with construction, accounts for the bulk of the variation in national output over the course of the business cycle. The industrial detail provided by these measures helps illuminate structural developments in the economy

The production index measures real output, expressed as a percentage of real output in a base year, currently 1992. The capacity index estimates sustainable potential output, also expressed as a percentage of actual output in 1992. The production indexes have been computed as annually weighted Fisher indexes since 1977; weights are based on annual estimates of value added. The rate of capacity utilization equals the seasonally adjusted output index expressed as a percentage of the related capacity index.

Prices and Inflation

Consumer Price Index

http://stats.bls.gov/cpihome.htm

The Consumer Price Index (CPI) measures the average change over time in prices paid by urban consumers for a fixed "market basket" of consumer goods and services. The CPI provides a way for consumers to compare changes in prices over time nationally and in specific urban areas. The CPI reflects spending patterns for each of two population groups: All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) and Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W). The CPI-U represents about 87 percent of the total U.S. population. It is based on the expenditures of almost all residents of urban or metropolitan areas, including professionals, the self-employed, the poor, the unemployed, and retired persons, as well as urban wage earners and clerical workers. Excluded from the CPI are the spending patterns of persons living in rural, nonmetropolitan areas, farm families, persons in the Armed Forces, and those in institutions, such as prisons and mental hospitals.

One thing to note: Though often called a "cost of living" index, the CPI does not measure comparative costs between different urban centers in the U.S. One can track how much prices have risen or fallen across different communities over time, but the components that underlie the cost of living in different locations differ too much for the CPI to represent a true "cost of living" measure. For example, consider the marked difference in expenditures for heating fuels between Frostbelt and Sunbelt cities or the budgetary impact of public versus private transportation costs in New York City vs. Los Angeles.

Producer Price Index

http://stats.bls.gov/ppihome.htm

The Producer Price Index is a family of indexes that measures the average change over time in the selling prices received by domestic producers of goods and services. PPIs measure price change from the perspective of the seller. This contrasts with other measures, such as the Consumer Price Index (CPI), that measure price change from the purchaser's perspective. Seller and purchaser prices may differ due to government subsidies, sales and excise taxes, and distribution costs.

Over 10,000 PPIs for individual products and groups of products are released each month. PPIs exist for the products of virtually every industry in the mining and manufacturing sectors of the U.S. economy. New PPIs are gradually being introduced for the products of industries in the transportation, utilities, trade, finance, and services sectors of the economy.

Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA)

http://www.bea.doc.gov/bea/ glance.htm

The data on this page, drawn from BEAs various economic accounts, comprises an overview of the U.S. economy in recent quarters.

Measures of Compensation

National Compensation Survey

http://stats.bls.gov/comhome.htm

When fully operational, the National Compensation Survey will provide wage and benefit data for localities, geographic regions, and the U.S. as a whole. Data from the National Compensation Survey will be used to produce the Employment Cost Index and to expand the available output from that program. Survey data also will be used to maintain and to expand BLS compensation publications on wages by work level, benefit incidence, benefit provisions, and employer costs for compensation.

Occupational Employment Statistics

http://stats.bls.gov/oeshome.htm This survey collects data on wage and salary workers in nonfarm establishments. Employment and wage estimates by occupation are available for the nation, states, and selected metropolitan areas. National employment and wage estimates by occupation and industry are available upon request.

Forecasts and Projections Standard Occupational Classification (SOC)

http://stats.bls.gov/soc/soc_home.htm

The Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) system will be used by all federal statistical agencies to classify workers into occupational categories for the purpose of collecting, calculating, or disseminating data. All workers are classified into one of over 820 occupations according to their occupational definition. To facilitate classification, the system combines occupations into 23 major groups, 98 minor groups, and 452 broad occupations. Each broad occupation includes detailed occupations) requiring similar job duties, skills, education, or experience.

The Conference Board

http://www.conference-board. org

A not-for-profit, non-advocacy organization, the Conference Board provides objective business knowledge through its Consumer Confidence Index and the Leading Economic Indicators and our research, conferences, centers, and councils.

National Bureau of Economic Research

U.S. Business Cycle Expansions and Contractions

http://www.nber.org/cycles.html

The NBER is a private, nonprofit, nonpartisan research organization dedicated to promoting a greater understanding of how the economy works. NBER research is conducted by more than 500 university professors around the country, the leading scholars in their fields.

Bureau of Labor Statistics Projections

http://stats.bls.gov/emphome.htm

The Bureau of Labor Statistics releases projections for the American workforce. The U.S. Department of Labor provides information on where to expect future job growth by industry and occupation and the likely makeup of the workforce pursuing those jobs. These 10-year projections of employment by industry and occupation, labor force, and economic growth are widely used in career guidance, in planning education and training programs, and in studying long-range employment trends.

International Comparisons

Foreign Labor Statistics

http://stats.bls.gov/flshome.htm

From its inception, the Bureau of Labor Statistics has collected and published comparative statistical information on labor conditions and developments abroad. Foreign labor research and statistical analyses have been undertaken because (1) comparisons between U.S. and foreign labor conditions shed light on U.S. economic performance relative to other industrial nations; (2) comparisons provide information on the competitive position of the U.S. in foreign trade, which has an important influence on the U.S. economy and employment; (3) information on labor conditions published by a majority of foreign countries is not readily available to U.S. labor representatives, employers, government officials, and others, and often not available in English; and (4) often, only an expert can judge the quality and comparability of foreign statistical data.

International Monetary Fund

http://dsbb.imf.org/country.htm

The IMF is an international organization of 182 member countries, established to promote international monetary cooperation, exchange stability, and orderly exchange arrangements; to foster economic growth and high levels of employment; and to provide temporary financial assistance to countries under adequate safeguards to help ease balance of payments adjustment. The Special Data Dissemination Standard (SDDS) was established by the International Monetary Fund (IMF/Fund) to guide members that have, or that might seek, access to international capital markets in the provision of its economic and financial data to the public. Both the General Data Dissemination System (GDDS) and the SDDS are expected to enhance the availability of timely and comprehensive statistics and therefore contribute to the pursuit of sound macroeconomic policies. The SDDS is also expected to contribute to the improved functioning of financial markets.

Economic Data

National Data Book

http://www.census.gov/statab/www/ The National Data Book contains a collection of statistics on social and economic conditions in the U.S. Selected international data is also included. The Abstract offers a Guide to Sources of other data from the Census Bureau, other federal agencies, and private organizations. The current edition contains a new section, "20th Century Statistics," which presents data beginning in 1900, where available, on a broad range of subjects such as population, education, income, and labor force.

Economic Report of the President

http://w3.access.gpo.gov/eop/

The Economic Report of the President summarizes economic developments and the administration's economic policy.

Fedstats

http://www.fedstats.gov/

The Federal Interagency Council on Statistical Policy, a group of more than 70 agencies in the U.S. federal government that produce statistics of interest to the public, maintains this site to provide easy access to the full range of statistics and information produced by these agencies for public use.

Your Government at Work for You

The above statistics are useful for conducting academic research, investigating what sort of new business to open, how to pay employees, where to live, and what sort of career to train for. Statistics inform decisions, sway arguments, and help to explore and scrutinize assumptions. The above sites will help you do all this and more.