BE
YOUR OWN ECONOMIST®
Economic
Indicators
| Data | Source | Data Retrieval |
| Index of Leading Economic Indicators | http://www.conference-board.org/ |
Step 1: Click on "Economics" in the left-hand menu bar Step 2: Click on "Economic Indicators" under "Economics" in the left-hand menu bar Step 3: Click on link under "U.S. Leading Indicators" |
| S&P 500: P/E Ratio |
http://www.standardandpoors.com
|
Step 1: Click on "S&P 500" under "INDICES" Step 2: Click on "Index Earnings" under "INDEX DATA" in the left-hand menu (Register & repeat to open spreadsheet) Step 3: Go to the bottom tier of data in Columns B, D & H (probably Row 50 & below) to obtain S&P, Earnings & P/E for the latest quarter (Check: Total of latest four quarters of Earnings [to arrive at annual figure] should equal most recent S&P divided by most recent P/E) |
| After-tax Corporate Profits | http://www.bea.gov/ |
Step 1: Click on "Gross Domestic Product" under "National" Step 2: Click on "Interactive Tables: GDP....... " under "Gross Domestic Product (GDP)" Step 3: Click on "list of all NIPA Tables" Step 4: Click on "Table 1.12. National Income by Type of Income (A) (Q)" Step 5: Scroll down to line 45 and go to the last column on the right |
| Manufacturers’ After-tax Profits | http://www.census.gov/ | Step 1: Click on "Economic Indicators" in the lower right Step 2: Click on "PDF" on the left under "Quarterly Financial Report - Manufacturing, Mining and Trade" Step 3: Scroll down to Table 2 and find after-tax profits for all manufacturing corporation |
| Ratio: Price/Unit Labor Cost | http://stats.bls.gov/ |
Step 1: Click on "Labor Productivity and Costs" after clicking on "Productivity" in left-hand menu bar Step 2: Click on (HTML) under "Productivity and Costs" under "LPC News Releases:" Step 3: Click on "Table 1. Business sector" Step 4: Obtain the most recent quarterly index values for "Unit labor costs" and "Implicit price deflator" Step 5: Divide the price deflator by unit labor costs and multiply by 100 |
| Manufacturers’ Profit Margins | http://www.census.gov/ |
Step 1: Click on "Economic Indicators" in the lower right Step 2: Click on "PDF" on the left under "Quarterly Financial Report - Manufacturing, Mining and Trade" Step 3: Scroll down to Table 1 and find "Rate of return (after taxes): Cents per dollar of sales" |
| Gross Domestic Product | http://www.bea.gov/ |
Step 1: Click on "Gross Domestic Product" under "National"
Step 2: Click on "Interactive Tables: GDP......." under "Gross Domestic Product (GDP)" Step 3: Click on "list of all NIPA Tables" Step 4: Click on "Table 1.1.6. Real Gross Domestic Product..." and "Table 1.1.1. Percent Change..." Step 5: Scroll down to line 1 in both tables and go to the last column on the right |
| Industrial Production & Capacity Utilization | http://www.federalreserve.gov/ |
Step 1: Click on "All Statistical Releases" under "Recent Statistical
Releases" and then click on "Industrial Production and Capacity
Utilization" under "Principal Economic Indicators" in the upper left Step 2: Find the latest monthly data in the table next to "Total index" and "Total industry" |
| Institute For Supply Management Index | http://www.ism.ws/ |
Step 1: Click on latest Manufacturing ISM Report on Business |
| Labor Productivity & Unit Labor Costs | http://stats.bls.gov |
Step 1: Click on "Labor Productivity and Costs" after clicking on "Productivity" in left-hand menu bar Step 2: Click on "Productivity and Costs" under "LPC News Releases:" Step 3: Click on “Table 1. Business sector" Step 4: Obtain the most recent quarterly index values for "Output per hour of all persons" and "Unit labor costs" and then scroll down and obtain their "Percent change from previous quarter at annual rate" |
| Producer Prices | http://stats.bls.gov/ |
Step 1: Click on "Producer Price Indexes" after clicking on "Inflation & Prices" in left-hand menu bar Step 2: Click on "Producer Price Index" under "Latest PPI News Releases:" Step 3: Note Total for latest month in Table A and multiply by 12 to put the data on an annual basis |
| Business Capital Expenditures (Nondefense Capital Goods) | http://www.census.gov/ |
Step 1: Click on "Economic Indicators" in the lower right
Step 2: Click on "PDF" on the left under "Advance Report on Durable Goods Manufacturers' Shipments and Orders" Step 3: Scroll down to Table 1 and find new orders for nondefense capital goods near the bottom |
| Inventories, Sales & Inventory/Sales Ratio | http://www.census.gov/ |
Step 1: Click on "Economic Indicators" in the lower right
Step 2: Click on "HTML" on the left under "Manufacturing and Trade Inventories and Sales" Step 3: Scroll down to Table 1 and subtract previous month's inventories from latest month's and multiply by 12 to obtain inventory change, and then obtain the most recent inventory/sales ratio |
| Consumer Price Index | http://stats.bls.gov/ |
Step 1: Click on "Consumer Price Index" after clicking on "Inflation & Prices" in left-hand menu bar Step 2: Click on "Consumer Price Index" under "CPI News Releases:" Step 3: Note All Items for latest month in Table A and multiply by 12 to put the data on an annual basis |
| Employment Data (Total Non-farm Payroll Employment) (Manufacturing Workweek) | http://stats.bls.gov/ |
Step 1: Click on "National Employment" after clicking on "Employment " in left-hand menu bar Step 2: Click on "Employment Situation" under "CES News Releases:" Step 3: Scroll down to Table A and find the change in nonfarm employment in the last column and manufacturing hours of work for the latest month |
| Personal Income | http://www.bea.gov/ |
Step 1: Click on "Gross Domestic Product" under "National"
Step 2: Click on "Interactive Tables: GDP....... " under "Gross Domestic Product (GDP)" Step 3: Click on "list of all NIPA Tables" Step 4: Click on "Table 2.6 Personal Income..." Step 5: Scroll down to line 1 |
| Consumer Confidence | http://www.conference-board.org/ |
Step 1: Click on "Economics" in the left-hand menu bar Step 2: Click on "Economic Indicators" under "Economics" in the left-hand menu bar Step 3: Click on link under "Consumer Confidence Index" |
| New-Vehicle Sales | http://www.bea.gov/ |
Step 1: Click on "Gross Domestic Product" under "National"
Step 2: Scroll down and click on "Motor Vehicles" under "Supplemental Estimates" Step 3: Save to your desktop as an Excel file and then open the file Step 4: Click on the "Table 6" tab at the bottom of the page Step 5: Look at column I (Light Total) and scroll down for the latest data |
| Consumer Credit | http://www.federalreserve.gov/ |
Step 1: Click on "All Statistical Releases" under "Recent Statistical
Releases" and then click on "Consumer credit -- G19" under "Household
Finance" in the upper right Step 2: Click on "Current Release" Step 3: Go to "Amount ... billions of dollars" and subtract previous month from current month & multiply by 12 to obtain seasonally adjusted dollar amount at annual rate |
| Housing Starts | http://www.census.gov/ | Step 1: Click
on "Economic Indicators" in the lower right
Step 2: Click on "PDF" on the left under "Current Press Release" under "Housing Starts/Building Permits" Step 3: Scroll down to "Housing Starts" |
| Home Sales (Existing-Home Sales) | http://www.realtor.org/ | Step 1: Click
on "Research" in the left-hand menu bar Step 2: Find the latest data under "Housing Indicators" |
| Home Sales (New-Home Sales) | http://www.census.gov/ | Step 1: Click
on "Economic Indicators" in the lower right
Step 2: Click on "PDF" on the left under "Current Press Release" under "New Home Sales" |
| Retail Sales | http://www.census.gov/ |
Step 1: Click on "Economic Indicators" in the lower right
Step 2: Scroll down to "Advance Monthly Sales for Retail and Food Services" and click on "HTML" on the left under "Current Press Release" |
| Private Borrowing | http://www.federalreserve.gov |
Step 1: Step 1: Click on "All Statistical Releases" under "Recent
Statistical Releases" and then click on "Flow of Funds Accounts" Step 2: Click on "Screen reader" Step 3: Click on "D.2 Borrowing by Sector" under "Debt Growth Tables" Step 4: Scroll down to the latest quarter and add "Domestic nonfinancial sectors Households" and "Domestic nonfinancial sectors Business" |
| Short-term Interest Rates | http://www.federalreserve.gov |
Step 1: Click on "All Statistical Releases" under "Recent Statistical Releases" |
| Long-term Interest Rates | http://www.federalreserve.gov |
Step 1: Click on "All Statistical Releases" under "Recent Statistical Releases" Step 2: Click on "daily" under "Interest Rates" Step 3: Find the latest Treasury 10-year constant-maturities rate and Aaa corporate bond rate |
| Federal
Receipts, Expenditures, Surplus & Deficit |
http://www.bea.gov | Step 1: Click
on “Gross Domestic Product" under "National" Step 2: Click on "Interactive Tables: GDP......." under "Gross Domestic Product (GDP)" Step 3: Click on “list of All NIPA Tables” Step 4: Go to “Section 3 -Government Current Receipts and Expenditures" and click on "Table 3.2. Federal Government ... " Step 5: Look at lines 37, 40, & 46 |
International Transactions |
http://www.bea.gov | Step 1: Click
on "Balance of Payments" under "International" Step 2: Click on "Detailed estimates" Step 3: Click on “Table 1. U.S. International Transactions" Step 4: See lines 72, 74 & 77 |
Exchange Value of the Dollar |
http://www.federalreserve.gov |
Step 1: Click on "All Statistical Releases" under "Recent Statistical Releases" Step 2: Click on "monthly" under "Exchange Rates..." Step 3: Click on "Dollar indexes" at the top Step 4: Click on "Monthly" next to "Major Currencies" under "Nominal Indexes" |