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Economic Indicators: A Brief Guide to Selected Sources

Economic indicators are statistics used in economic forecasting to analyze the state of an economy. Most are compiled by government agencies and international organizations. This guide is intended to serve as a starting point for locating information about economic indicators using both print and electronic resources available through the University at Albany Libraries. Call numbers for print materials listed here are for materials located in the University Library. Call numbers beginning with the prefix “REF” are in the Reference area on the first floor.

Please note: databases having the icon can only be accessed from off campus if you are a registered library borrower.  You must have a SUNY card issued by the University at Albany AND currently be affiliated with the university as faculty, staff or student. For more information on accessing these resources remotely, see Off-Campus Access to Databases and Online Journals.

This guide is not intended to be comprehensive, and the library owns many more resources than are listed here. For more economics-related Web sites see Economics Resources. The Economics Key Resources page links additional subscription databases available for University at Albany library borrowers. If you would like more assistance, please contact a reference librarian (442-3558).

Locating Books

Books about economic indicators and statistics owned by the University Libraries can be identified using the Minerva online public access catalog. You may search Minerva by author, title, subject, keywords, etc.  Subjects can be searched by using either Library of Congress Subject Headings or by using keywords. Minerva contains information about books housed in all three libraries: Dewey Library, the University Library and the Science Library.  Minerva will also help you find the titles of journals owned by the Libraries, but it will not help you to locate individual articles within journals.  See the section in this guide on Finding a Journal Article for more information on that.  A location "ULIB" in the record indicates that the book is found in the University Library, the location "DEWEY" is for the Dewey Library, and the location "SCIENCE" is for the Science Library.  Please ask for help or instructions at the reference desk (442-3558).

Definitions and Background Information

• Handbook of United States Economic and Financial Indicators, by F.M. O'Hara, Jr. and F.M. O'Hara III.  Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 2000.  This work defines nearly 300 indicators, arranged in alphabetical order. The source of each indicator is given in Appendix B, and Appendix A covers non-quantitative or unusual indicators.  [ULIB HC 106.8 O47 2000]

• Guide to Economic Indicators, by Norman Frumkin.  Armonk, NY: M.E. Sharpe, 2000. This book deals primarily with the U.S. economy, government agencies which gather economic data, and the methods they use.  [ULIB HC 103 F9 2000]

• Economist Guide to Economic Indicators: Making Sense of Economics.  New York: Wiley, 1997.  Covers economic indicators from an international perspective, with an emphasis on the top 15 industrial economies.  [ULIB HA 29 E28 1997]

• Investopedia.com's Guide to Economic Indicators - This site provides straightforward definitions for some economic indicators commonly used by investors and links to the agency responsible for compiling the data.

• Business Statistics of the United States. Lanham, MD: Bernan Press, 1996-.   This serial publication contains approximately 2,000 economic time series, mostly from federal government sources. Most series contain 30 years of annual data and the most recent four years of quarterly data. Also included are detailed background notes defining each indicator and providing source information.   [ULIB HC 101 A13122, Latest issue in Reference]

Indexes and Print Statistical Sources

• Congressional Information Services Statistical Sets. Bethesda, MD: Congressional Information Services. The indices and corresponding microfiche sets for these three statistical services are located in the southeast wing of the Reference Area, near the Customized Search Service office. Most of the documents indexed in these sets are available in the library in either print or microfiche.

  • American Statistics Index.  1973-.   Provides references to U.S. government publications containing statistical information. [ULIB REF Z 7554 U5 A46]

  • Index to International Statistics.  1983-.  Provides references to statistical publications of international governmental organizations. [ULIB REF HA 154 I53X]

  • Statistical Reference Index.  1980-.  Provides references to selected American statistical publications from private and state government sources. [ULIB REF HA 195 Z999 S78X]

• Europa World Year Book.  London, England: Europa Publications Limited, 1989-.  This is a very useful compendium of country facts and statistics.  Each country entry covers recent history, economics, demographics, and a directory of names, addresses and other useful facts about the government and political system.  It also includes a section on intergovernmental organizations.  [ULIB REF  JN 1 E85]

• International Financial Statistics Yearbook. Washington: International Monetary Fund, 1979-. Provides tables of interest and exchange rates, balance of payments, world trade, money and banking, and commodity prices, with detailed country tables. [ULIB HG 61 I57, Latest issue in Reference.] This source is updated by International Financial Statistics. [ULIB Per HG 3881 I626]
  

• Statistical Yearbook (Annuaire Statistique). New York: United Nations, 1948-. This United Nations source covers finance, trade and many other social statistics. [ULIB Oversize HA 12.5 U63, Latest five years in Reference.] It is updated by Monthly Bulletin of Statistics. [ULIB Per HC 59 M65X]
  

Electronic Resources for United States Indicators

• FRED - Database of over 1,000 U.S. economic time series. Data can be downloaded in Microsoft Excel and text formats and charts of data series can be viewed.

• Beige Book - The Beige Book is released two weeks prior to each Federal Open Market Commitee meeting 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 businessmen, economists, market experts, and other sources. The Beige Book summarizes this information by district and sector.

• Economic Statistics Briefing Room - Covers employment, income, international, money, output, prices, production, and transportation. Dates of coverage vary.

• Bureau of Labor Statistics - Data on employment, prices and living conditions, compensation and working conditions, etc. Some of the data are broken down regionally and some can be downloaded in delimited formats for importing into spreadsheet programs.

• Statistical Abstract of the United States.  Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1878-. An annual publication providing summary statistical information on the social, political, and economic organization of the United States. This source is also available in print.  [ULIB REF  HA 202, Latest issue in Ready Reference.]

• STAT-USA - Extensive collection of business, economic, social, and trade statistics. State of the Nation (SOTN) section provides financial and economic data from throughout the federal government and other related entities. Available in the Libraries at designated workstations only. Staff at the Reference Desk will assist you in accessing the site.

• FreeLunch.com - Provides access to over 100,000 economic, financial, and demographic data series. This service is free, but does require registration. Data may be downloaded in spreadsheet format.

Electronic Resources for Global Indicators

• CIA World Factbook - Provides basic information on a country's economy, infrastructure, geography and government.

• Economist Intelligence Unit Publications - Licensed database containing economic indicators for recent years for select countries. Statistics are downloadable in spreadsheet format. On-campus access only.

• LexisNexis Academic - Licensed database of full-text news and legal information. Contains country profiles from the CIA World Factbook and Walden's Country Reports. Select "Reference" under the Search forms heading.

• Library of Congress Country Studies - This series presents a description and analysis of the historical setting and the social, economic, political, and national security systems and institutions of countries throughout the world.

• Statistical Data Sources: Global - From globalEDGE at the Center for International Business Education and Research at Michigan State University, this site provides links to economic indicators and other statistics at the global, regional and country level.

• OFFSTATS: Official Statistics on the Web - From the University of Auckland Library, this site provides links to statistics from the official sources. Links may be displayed by country, region or topic.

Locating Journal Articles

Journal articles relevant to your subject can be identified using indexing and abstracting services.  Searching the journal literature can be the easiest way to locate a non-quantitative or unusual economic indicator that might not appear in government sources. Some databases provide access to the actual text of the articles, but most do not.  If the journal article text is not available online, you must determine if the library subscribes to the print journal, and locate it in the Periodicals Room.  For more help with this process, ask a Reference Librarian (442-3558).

Sources described below are the most relevant databases for researching articles covering economic indicators. 

• EconLit - This database is the standard source for the indexing of scholarly economic literature. It covers over 400 journals in economics and related fields, and includes conference proceedings, books, book reviews, dissertations and working papers.

• Business Source Complete - Provides nearly 3,600 full text scholarly publications, including nearly 1,050 peer-reviewed journals. In addition to the full text, this database provides indexing and abstracts for nearly 4,400 journals. The database also includes country economic reports from the EIU, DRI-WEFA, ICON Group and CountryWatch, which contain country-specific economic indicators.

Specialized Databases

• Datastream International - This information service provides a large number of economic indicators for most countries (specific indicators vary by country). Sources of data include the OECD, IMF, National Accounts and the Economic Intelligence Unit. Historical data as well as some forecasts are provided. Use is restricted to members of the University at Albany community. Access is in the Interactive Media Center, in the lower level of the University Library.

• ICPSR (Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research) - This resource is a vast archive of social science data for research and instruction. ICPSR contains some very large datasets of historical economic indicators.

Last Updated: September 7, 2006
Maintained by Mary K. Van Ullen
Comments to mvanullen@uamail.albany.edu