Economic Data
Economic data refer to the Economic Census of establishments and various surveys and data for establishments and firms. With very few exceptions, the public use versions for these files are limited to data presented in aggregate form. Click on the images below to access lists of establishment and firm based data, the survey period, the frequency of data collection, the years of data available at CES, a brief description, and the sponsoring federal agency. Access to these data will only be granted to qualified researchers on approved projects with authorization to use specific data sets.
Economic Census Microdata
Business Register Data
Establishment Microdata
Firm Microdata
Transactions Microdata
Economic Census Microdata: (AUX, CCN, CFI, CMF, CMI, CRT, CSR)
Census of Auxiliary Establishments (AUX)
Description: The Auxiliary Establishment Survey (AUX) covers auxiliary establishments of multiestablishment firms, reporting separately. The primary function of auxiliary units is to manage,
administer, service, or support the activities of the other establishments of the company. Information on
the auxiliary unit, the owning company, and the type of management or support service function
provided is collected. This includes number of employees, payroll, and the principal function of the
auxiliary.
View the Auxiliary Establishments
Census of Construction Industries (CCN)
Description: The Census of Construction Industries (CCN) covers all employer establishments primarily
engaged in construction as defined by the 1997 North American Industry Classification System (NAICS).
Data is included on payroll, value of work, cost of materials, and cost of labor, rentals, and depreciable
assets for firms working in residential, commercial, industrial, and infrastructure construction.
View the Census of Construction Industries
Census of Finance, Insurance, and Real Estate (CFI)
Description: The Censuses of Finance and Insurance, and of Real Estate and Rental and Leasing (CFI)
provide data on employment, payroll, detailed industry, and the amount of revenue by detailed source.
The files also include responses to special inquiries included on the forms for certain detailed industries.
The files include state, county and place geography codes for all years. About 80% of cases in the 2002
and 2007 files also have tract codes.
View the Census of Finance, Insurance, and Real Estate
Census of Island Areas – Puerto Rico (CIAPR)
Description: The Economic Census of Island Areas provides periodic and comprehensive data for
economic activity and structure for American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Norther Mariana
Islands (CNMI), Guam, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
View the Census of Island Areas – Puerto Rico
Census of Manufactures (CMF)
Description: The Census of Manufactures (CMF) provides data on manufactures including employment,
payroll, workers’ hours, payroll supplements, cost of materials, value added by manufacturing, capital
expenditures, inventories, and energy consumption. It also provides data on the value of shipments by
product class and materials consumed by material code. The Manufacturing sector comprises
establishments engaged in the mechanical, physical, or chemical transformation of materials,
substances, or components into new products. The assembling of component parts of manufactured
products is considered manufacturing, except in cases where the activity is appropriately classified in
Sector 23, Construction. Product and material reports detail the quantities and costs for specific items.
The census also includes geographic data for each firm.
View the Census of Manufactures
Census of Mining (CMI)
Description: The Census of Mining (CMI) includes statistics on employment, value added, costs of
materials, value of shipments, and total capital expenditures. The Mining sector comprises
establishments that extract naturally occurring mineral solids, such as coal and ores; liquid minerals,
such as crude petroleum; and gases, such as natural gas. The term mining is used in the broad sense to
include quarrying, well operations, beneficiating (e.g., crushing, screening, washing, and flotation), and
other preparation customarily performed at the mine site, or as a part of mining activity. Product and
material reports detail the quantities and costs for specific items. The census also includes geographic
data for each firm.
View the Census of Mining
Census of Retail Trade (CRT)
Description: The Census of Retail Trade (CRT) provides data on employment, payroll, detailed industry,
and the amount of revenue by detailed source. The files also include responses to special inquiries
included on the forms for certain detailed industries. The files include state, county, and place
geography codes for all years. About 75% of cases in the 2002 and 2007 files also have tract codes, as
do about 55% of 1977 cases.
View the Census of Retail Trade
Census of Services (CSR)
Description: The Census of Services (CSR) provides data on employment, payroll, detailed industry, and
the amount of revenue by detailed source. The files also include responses to special inquiries included
on the forms for certain detailed industries. The files include state, county, and place codes for all years.
About 80% of cases in the 2002 and 2007 files also have tract codes, as do about 65% of 1977 cases.
View the Census of Services
Census of Transportation, Communications, and Utilities (CUT)
Description: The Censuses of Transportation, Communications, and Utilities (CUT) provide data on
employment, payroll, detailed industry, and the amount of revenue by detailed source. The files also
include responses to special inquiries included on the forms for certain detailed industries. The files
include state, county and place geography codes for all years. About 75% of cases in the 2002 and 2007
files also have tract codes.
View the Census of Transportation, Communications, and Utilities
Census of Wholesale Trade (CWH)
Description: The Census of Wholesale Trade (CWH) provides data on employment, payroll, detailed
industry, and the amount of revenue by detailed source. The files also include responses to special
inquiries included on the forms for certain detailed industries. The files include state, county, and place
geography codes for all years. About 80% of cases in the 2002 and 2007 files also have tract codes, as
do about 60% of cases in the 1977 file.
View the Census of Wholesale Trade
Business Register Data (CSB, ILBD, LBD, OCD, SSEL)
Compustat-SSEL Bridge (CSB)
Description: The SSEL is a register of active employer business establishments in the United States. It
includes the name, address, legal form of organization, and tax filing requirements for each business,
quarterly payroll information, business receipts, revenues, assets, inventories, industry classifications,
and other critical data items. Compustat is a database compiled by Standard and Poor’s that tracks
pricing data, earnings results, corporate actions, and ratings. In the Compustat-SSEL Bridge, the March
2005 Compustat file is linked to the 1981-2005 SSEL, providing firm level linkage.
View the Compustat-SSEL Bridge
Form 5500 Bridge File
Description: : The Form 5500 Bridge File allows linkage of information from Form 5500 public filings to
Census data on businesses. Form 5500 is filed to satisfy annual reporting requirements for certain
employee benefits plans.
View the Form 5500 Bridge File
Integrated Longitudinal Business Database (ILBD)
Description: The Integrated Longitudinal Business Database (ILBD) is a research dataset constructed at
the Center for Economic Studies. Currently, the ILBD contains the universe of all U.S. business
establishments without paid employees for 1977, 1982, 1987, 1992 and 1994-2005. The ILBD is an
invaluable tool for researchers investigating the dynamics of the roughly 20 million nonemployer
businesses in the U.S. economy. Researchers armed with the ILBD can investigate nonemployer
business entry and exit, gross revenue flows, and when used in conjunction with the ILBD, transitions
between nonemployer and employer status over time. The ILBD can be used alone or in conjunction
with several other Census Bureau datasets on firms and individuals.
View the Integrated Longitudinal Business Database
Longitudinal Business Database (LBD)
Description: The Longitudinal Business Database (LBD) is a research dataset constructed at the Center
for Economic Studies. The LBD contains longitudinally linked data for all employer establishments in the
Standard Statistical Establishment List. The register records the name, address, legal form of
organization, tax filing requirements, quarterly payroll information, business receipts, revenues, assets,
inventories, industry classifications, and other critical data items for each business. Thus the dataset is
able to track changes to these business statistics over time. The LBD will be invaluable to researchers
examining entry and exit, gross job flows and changes in the structure of the U.S. economy.
View the Longitudinal Business Database
Ownership Change Database (OCD)
Description: The Center for Economic Studies has constructed the Manufacturing Plant Ownership
Change Database (OCD) using plant-level data taken from the Census Bureau’s Longitudinal Business
Database (LBD). The OCD contains data on all manufacturing establishments that have experienced
ownership change at least once during the period 1963-1992. Data includes information on the
establishment, the buying and selling firms, employment, and production. Because each plant in the
OCD and LBD is assigned a unique permanent plant number (PPN), researchers can use this number to
merge the OCD with the LRD. In this way, data on many other variables available in the LBD—describing
economic activities of the plants that changed owners as well as those that did not experience any
ownership change (the control group) –may be obtained for research.
View the Ownership Change Database
Standard Statistical Establishment List/Business Register (SSEL)
Description: The SSL (also known as the Business Register) was created to provide a current and
comprehensive database of U.S. business establishments and companies for statistical program use.
Establishments of all domestic employer and non-employer businesses (except private households and
governments) and organizational units of multi-establishment businesses are included. The register
records the name, address, legal form of organization, and tax filing requirements for each business,
quarterly payroll information, business receipts, revenues, assets, inventories, industry classifications,
and other critical data items. The system also includes unique Census- assigned identification numbers
and incorporates’ EINs issued for Federal tax purposes so that the register can be linked to other Census
datasets.
View the Standard Statistical Establishment List/Business Register
Establishment Microdata (ASM, CIR, MECS, MEPS-IC, NES)
Annual Survey of Manufactures (ASM)
Description: The Annual Survey of Manufactures (ASM) provides sample estimates of statistics for all
manufacturing establishments with one or more paid employee. Among the statistics included are
annual data on total employment, payroll, compensation, and fringe benefits; production worker wages
and hours; total cost of materials, contract work, and purchased energy; electricity consumption and
production; value added; detailed value of shipments; detailed end of year inventories; and capital
expenditures.
View the Annual Survey of Manufactures
Current Industrial Reports (CIR)
Description: The Current Industrial Report (CIR) provides monthly, quarterly, and annual measures of
industrial activity. The measures provided include production and shipments of select products, and
manufacturing activity in important commodity areas such as textiles and apparel, chemicals, primary
metals, computer and electronic components, industrial equipment, aerospace equipment, and
consumer goods.
View the Current Industrial Reports
Manufacturing Energy Consumption Survey (MECS)
Description: The Manufacturing Energy Consumption Survey (MEC) provides data on the consumption
of electricity and other types of fuel. It also provides data on the capability of manufacturers to
substitute alternative fuels for those actually consumed, end uses, the extent to which energy-related
technologies are being used by manufacturers and other related topics.
View the Manufacturing Energy Consumption Survey
Medical Expenditure Panel Survey-Insurance Component (MEPS-IC)
Description: The MEPS Insurance Component (MEPS-IC) collects data on health insurance plans
obtained through employers. Data collected include the number and type of private insurance plans
offered, benefits associated with these plans, premiums, contributions by employers and employees,
eligibility requirements, and out-of-pocket costs. Data also include both employer (e.g., size, age,
location, industry) and workforce characteristics (e.g., percent of workers female, 50+ years of age,
belong to union, earn low/medium/high wage).
View the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey-Insurance Component
National Employer Survey (NES)
Description: The National Employer Survey was created to provide and relate information on worker
education, employer training and employer business characteristics, including business productivity.
The survey covers all U.S. manufacturing and nonmanufacturing establishments with 20 or more
employees, except agriculture and government establishments. Data were collected on four topics:
employees and employment, employee training, business characteristics, and equipment and
technology. Employees and employment included number of employees, work week, pay, benefits,
supervision, hiring practices and union representation. Employee training included organization,
purposes, formal and informal programs, duration, trainees and effectiveness. Business characteristics
included year operations began, company and establishment size, principal product and exports.
Equipment and technology included capital assets, recent investments, age of equipment, use of
computers and research activities.
View the National Employer Survey
Quarterly Survey of Plant Capacity Utilization (QPC)/ Survey of Plant Capacity Utilization (PCU)
Description: The purpose of the Survey of Plant Capacity Utilization (PCU) is to provide statistics on the
rates of capacity utilization for the U.S. manufacturing sector and publishing sectors. The survey covers
manufacturing establishments with 5 or more paid employees. The PCU survey collects data on
establishments' operational status, value of actual production, estimated production attainable at full
and emergency conditions, reasons for operating at less than full production capacity, time required to
reach full production, and time required to reach emergency production levels. The survey also collects
data on work patterns by shift. These data include days per week in operation, plant hours per week in
operation, weeks in operation in the quarter, total and temporary production workers and hours
worked.
View the Quarterly Survey of Plant Capacity Utilization
Survey of Manufacturing Technology (SMT)
Description: The purpose of the Survey of Manufacturing Technology (SMT) is to measure the presence,
use, and planned use of advanced technologies in the manufacturing sector. The survey covers
establishments with 20 or more employees that are classified in select NAICS manufacturing major
groups. Basic data are collected on the presence and plans for using advanced technologies,
establishment characteristics, technologies and other topics. The survey covers 17 specific technologies,
including numerically-controlled machines, computer-aided design or engineering technologies,
programmable controllers, and local area networks. Characteristics data include type of manufacturing,
age of plant, primary customer, and price of products sold. Other basic questions include the reasons for
not adopting technologies, and interaction with Federal defense agencies. Additional questions may be
included on topics specific to each survey.
View the Survey of Manufacturing Technology
Survey of Pollution Abatement Costs and Expenditures (PACE)
Description: The Pollution Abatement Costs and Expenditures (PACE) survey provides data on manufacturing plants’ operating costs and capital expenditures associated with pollution abatement. These expenditures are further broken down by media (air, water, solid waste) and type of cost. A number of other items have also been collected by the PACE survey through its history.
View the Survey of Pollution Abatement Costs and Expenditures
Firm Microdata (ACES, ARTS, AWTS, BES, QFR, SBO)
Annual Capital Expenditures Survey (ACES)
Description: The Annual Capital Expenditures Survey (ACES) is a firm-level survey that collects industrylevel data on capital investment in new and used structures and equipment. Every five years, additional detail on expenditure by asset type (by industry) is collected. Beginning in 2003, the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) supplement to the ACES collects data on non-capitalized and capitalized expenditure on ICT equipment and computer software. All non-farm sectors of the economy are covered by these surveys.
View the Annual Capital Expenditures Survey
Annual Retail Trade Survey (ARTS)
Description: The Annual Retail Trade Survey (ARTS) provides national estimates of total annual sales, ecommerce sales, end-of-year inventories, inventory-to-sales ratios, purchases, total operating expenses, inventories held outside the United States, gross margins, and end-of-year accounts receivable for retail businesses and annual sales and e-commerce sales for accommodation and food service firms located in the United States
View the Annual Retail Trade Survey
Annual Wholesale Trade Survey (AWTS)
Description: AWTS provides detailed industry measures of sales and inventories for wholesale trade
activities. Merchant wholesalers and manufacturers' sales branches and offices (MSBOs) provide
estimates on annual sales, end-of-year inventories, inventory valuation, purchases, operating expenses
and e-commerce data. The AWTS also began collecting sales, commissions, and operating expenses data
for agents, brokers, and electronic markets (AGBRs) in 2005.
View the Annual Wholesale Trade Survey
Business Expenditures Survey (BES)
Description: BES compiles statistics on business operating expenses. All sampled businesses in the BES
are asked to provide data on total and detailed operating expenses for the year covered. The Business
Expenses Survey covers wholesale, retail, and service sectors.
View the Business Expenditures Survey
Business Research & Development and Innovation Survey (BRDIS)
Description: The BRDIS collects a broad range of R&D data from both manufacturing and service companies along with select innovation data. The BRDIS replaces the SIRD. Measures include financial measures of R&D activity, measures related to R&D management and strategy, measures of company R&D activity funded by organizations not owned by the company, measures related to R&D employment, and measures related to intellectual property, technology transfer, and innovation.
Enterprise Summary Report (ESR)
Description: The Enterprise Statistics program is based on establishment data collected in the Economic
Censuses. Selected data of these establishments are aggregated to the enterprise level to provide
comprehensive data for entire companies and their owned establishments, including auxiliary
establishments (i.e. headquarters offices, research and development facilities, and data processing
centers). Consolidated company data include sales, employment, payroll, form of organization and
enterprise industry classification. Supplementary data for large companies include inventories, assets,
fringe benefits, capital and research and development (R&D) expenditures, and depreciation.
View the Enterprise Summary Report
Exporter Database (EDB)
Description: The data, provided in A Profile of U.S. Exporting Companies (Exporter Profile), are compiled
by the Foreign Trade Division of the U. S. Census Bureau, using the Exporter Database. The Exporter
Profiles are developed to provide both government and private sector users with information about the
exporting community including employment size, type of company, and major foreign markets.
View the Exporter Database
Kauffman Firm Survey (KFS)
Description: The Kauffman Firm Survey must be used in conjunction with Census Bureau restricted-use microdata.
View the Kauffman Firm Survey
Manufacturers’ Shipments, Inventories, and Orders (M3)
Description: The Manufacturers’ Shipments, Inventories, and Orders (M3) survey provides broad-based,
monthly statistical data on economic conditions in the domestic manufacturing sector. The survey
measures current industrial activity and provides an indication of future business trends.
View the Manufacturers’ Shipments, Inventories, and Orders
Quarterly Financial Report (QFR)
Description: The QFR data provides up-to-date aggregate statistics on the financial position of U.S.
corporations. Based upon a sample survey, the QFR presents estimated statements of income and
retained earnings, balance sheets, and related financial and operating ratios for manufacturing
corporations with assets of $250,000 and over; and mining, wholesale trade and retail trade
corporations with assets of $50 million and over. The statistical data are classified by industry and by
asset size.
View the Quarterly Financial Report
Service Annual Survey (SAS)
Description: SAS provides estimates of revenue and other measures for most traditional service
industries. Collected data include operating revenue for both taxable and tax-exempt firms and
organizations; sources of revenue and expenses by type for selected industries; operating expenses for
tax-exempt firms; and selected industry-specific items. In addition, starting with the 1999 survey, ecommerce data were collected for all industries, and export and inventory data were collected for
selected industries.
View the Service Annual Survey
Survey of Business Owners (SBO)
Description: The Survey of Business Owners (SBO) provides the only comprehensive, regularly collected
source of information on selected economic and demographic characteristics for businesses and
business owners by gender, ethnicity, race, and veteran status. Title 13 of the United States Code
authorizes this survey and provides for mandatory responses.
View the Survey of Business Owners
Survey of Industrial Research and Development (SIRD)
Description: The SIRD is the primary source of information on R&D performed by industry within the United States from 1953-2007. In 2008, the SIRD was replaced by the BRDIS. Key variables include expenditures on R&D, sales, employment, source of financing (company or Federal), character of R&D work (basic research, applied research, and development), R&D scientists and engineers (full-time equivalent), and type of cost (salaries, fringe benefits, etc.).
Transactions Microdata (CFS, EXP, IMP, LFTTD )
Commodity Flow Survey (CFS)
Description: The Commodity Flow Survey (CFS) is the primary source of national and state-level data on
domestic freight shipments by American establishments in mining, manufacturing, wholesale,
auxiliaries, and selected retail industries. It is a shipper-based survey and is conducted every five years
as part of the Economic Census. It provides a modal picture of national freight flows, and represents the
only publicly available source of commodity flow data for the highway mode.
View the Commodity Flow Survey
Foreign Trade Data – Exports (EXP)
Description: This database contains transactions level data on the exports of the universe of firms
operating in the U.S. that engage in merchandise export to a foreign destination. Information is
compiled from copies of the Shipper’s Export Declaration (SED) forms except for transactions with
Canada. The United States substitutes Canadian import statistics for U.S. exports to Canada in
accordance with a 1987 Memorandum of Understanding signed by the Census Bureau, U.S. Customs and
Border Protection, Canadian Customs, and Statistics Canada. Exports measure the total physical
movement of merchandise out of the United States to foreign countries whether such merchandise is
exported from within the U.S. Customs territory or from a U.S. Customs bonded warehouse or a U.S.
Foreign Trade Zone.
View the Foreign Trade Data – Exports
Foreign Trade Data – Imports (IMP)
Description: This database covers the universe of firms operating in the U.S. that engage in merchandise
import from a foreign destination. Information is compiled from automated data submitted through the
U.S. Customs' Automated Commercial System. Data are also compiled from import entry summary
forms, warehouse withdrawal forms and Foreign Trade Zone documents as required by law to be filed
with the U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Data on imports of electricity and natural gas from Canada
are obtained from Canadian sources.
View the Foreign Trade Data – Imports
Longitudinal Foreign Trade Transactions Database (LFTTD)
Description: LFTTD links individual trade transactions to firms in the United States. This dataset has two
components: (i) transaction-level export data (Foreign Trade Data - Export) linked to information on
firms operating in the United States; (ii) transaction-level import data (Foreign Trade Data - Import)
linked to information on firms operating in the United States. The firm identifiers on the LFTTD can be
used to link trade transactions by firms to many other Census data products (LBD, Economic Censuses,
surveys, etc.)
View the Longitudinal Foreign Trade Transactions Database