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Business Resources for Lawyers: Statistics

This is a guide to resources for business and company research. It will focus on electronic resources accessible freely on the Internet and on databases available through the law library or LMU's main campus library.

Statistical sources

Bureau of Labor Statistics 

This agency is the chief collector of statistics for the federal government. This site provides statistics on employment, salaries, productivity, prices, inflation, etc.

Census Bureau

The U.S. Census bureau is the main collector and publisher of statistics on the population of the United States. This website is the primary tool for researching its tremendous collection of data.  Includes data from the Decennial Census, the Economic Census, the annual economic surveys and the annual American Community Survey.

Federal Government Data and Statistics

This website is a gateway to the statistical resources of over 100 federal agencies. The annual "Statistical Program of the United States Government" document is an excellent guide to the statistics collecting activity of all parts of the federal government.

Federal Reserve Economic Data (FRED)

Hosted by the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, FRED provides a wide range of information from charts and tables of current economic indicators and trade figures.

Historical Statistics of the United States

Provided through Cambridge University Press.  Contains historical statistics and analysis from colonial times to the end of the 20th century. Topics include population, demographics, labor, foreign trade and government expenditures.

Statistical Abstract of the United States 

While the last edition of this popular annual volume was published in 2012, this resource is an excellent historical source for a wide variety of statistics. This website contains the full-text of the volumes back to 1878.