Data & Trends

Census Bureau: New Report Released on Retail Workers

Today, the U.S. Census Bureau released Retail Workers: 2018, a new report on the nation’s retail workforce. Retail jobs are some of the most common occupations in the United States. This report does not reflect any possible economic impacts related to COVID-19, but instead serves as a pre-crisis benchmark for future research. In 2018, 9.8 million…

HUD & Census Bureau: New Residental Sales Report Released for July 2020

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the U.S. Census Bureau jointly announced the following new residential sales statistics for July 2020: New Home Sales Sales of new single-family houses in July 2020 were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 901,000. This is 13.9 percent (±20.0 percent)* above the revised June…

HUD: New Report Shows Opportunity Zones on Track to Lift One Million Americans Out of Poverty

Poverty rate to be reduced by 11% in Opportunity Zones through billions in investment and new job opportunities The White House Council of Economic Advisers (CEA) yesterday delivered a Progress Report on President Trump’s Opportunity Zones initiative to White House Opportunity and Revitalization Council Chairman Ben Carson, Secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development….

FHFA: U.S. House Prices Up 5.4 Percent from Last Year; Rise 0.8 Percent in Second Quarter Despite COVID

U.S. house prices rose 5.4 percent from the second quarter of 2019 to the second quarter of 2020 according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) House Price Index (HPI). House prices were up 0.8 percent in the second quarter of 2019. FHFA’s seasonally adjusted monthly index for June was up 0.9 percent from May. “Home prices grew by 5.4 percent in the…

Census Bureau: Over 73 Percent of Housing Units Counted So Far in 2020 Census

This week, the U.S. Census Bureau began to release daily 2020 Census housing unit completion rates including the 2020 Census self-response rate and Nonresponse Followup completion rate. Over 73% of housing units have been accounted for in the 2020 Census as of today, with 9.7% counted by census takers and other field data collection operations, and 64.2%…

Census Bureau: Small Business Pulse Survey Phase 2 Weekly Data Released

The U.S. Census Bureau today released new data from the second phase of the experimental Small Business Pulse Survey. Data collection began Aug. 9, 2020. Results will be released weekly starting Aug. 20 through Oct. 15, 2020. The second phase includes questions on the core concepts from the first phase of the survey, as well as…

HUD and Census Bureau: Residential Construction Activity Report for July 2020 Issued

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the U.S. Census Bureau jointly announced the following new residential construction statistics for July 2020. Building Permits Privately owned housing units authorized by building permits in July were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,495,000. This is 18.8 percent (±1.1 percent) above the revised…

ABA: New Report Shows Closed-End Loan Delinquencies Rise in First Quarter at Onset of COVID-19

Credit card and HELOC loan delinquencies fall during first three months of 2020 Consumer credit delinquencies rose in the first quarter of 2020 as the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic triggered an abrupt economic slowdown, according to results from the American Bankers Association’s Consumer Credit Delinquency Bulletin. Overall, delinquencies rose in all of the 11…

SBA: Small Business Contracting Goals Exceed $132.9 Billion to Small Businesses, Breaking Records

Women-Owned Contracting Goal Met for the Second Time in Scorecard History; Eight Federal Agencies Receive A+ Rating on FY2019 Small Business Federal Procurement Scorecard Today, the U.S. Small Business Administration announced that the federal government exceeded its small business federal contracting goal, awarding 26.50 percent or $132.9 billion in federal contract dollars to small businesses, over $12…

Census Bureau: Door-to-Door Visits Begin Nationwide for 2020 Census

Census Takers to Follow Up With About 56 Million Households Nationwide This week, the U.S. Census Bureau began following up with households nationwide that have not yet responded to the 2020 Census. Based on the current self-response rate of 63.3%, the Census Bureau estimates it will need to visit about 56 million addresses to collect…