BE YOUR OWN ECONOMIST®

 Economic Indicators
 
Data Source Data Retrieval (Use seasonally-adjusted data when available)
S&P 500: P/E Ratio http://www.standardandpoors.com Step 1: Click on "S&P 500" under "Categories/Featured Indexes"
Step 2: Click on the plus sign to the left of "Download Index Data" and then click on "Index Earnings"
Step 3: Register and repeat Steps 1 & 2
Step 4: Open Excel file
Step 5: Scroll down to "Actual Earnings" in Column A and, for the most recently available Actual Earnings, obtain from Column D, Earnings for the latest year by adding latest four quarters
Step 6: Then scroll up Column A to find "S&P 500 close of" just under "Data as of the close of" and obtain the latest available S&P 500 in Column D
Step 7: Divide the S&P by Annual Earnings to obtain the 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 "Begin using the data..."
Step 4: Click on "SECTION 1 - DOMESTIC PRODUCT AND INCOME"
Step 5: Click on "Table 1.12. National Income by Type of Income (A) (Q)"
Step 6: 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..."
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: Roll cursor onto "Subject Areas" in the top menu bar and click on "Labor Productivity and Costs" under "Productivity"
Step 2: Click on "Productivity and Costs" under "LPC News Releases"
Step 3: Scroll down to near the bottom and click on "Table 1. Business sector"
Step 4: Obtain the most recent quarterly index values for "Unit labor costs" and "Implicit price deflator" (Note: Bottom table below percentage changes)
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..."
Step 3: Go to Table 1 and find "Rate of return (after taxes): Cents per dollar of sales" seasonally adjusted
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 "Begin using the data..."
Step 4: Click on "SECTION 1 - DOMESTIC PRODUCT AND INCOME"
Step 5: Click on "Table 1.1.6. Real Gross Domestic Product..." and "Table 1.1.1. Percent Change..."
Step 6: 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 "Select Statistical Releases" and then click on "Industrial Production and Capacity Utilization" under "Industrial Activity" and click on "Current Release"
Step 2: Find the latest monthly data under "Capacity Utilization" and to the right of "Total industry"
Institute For Supply Management Index http://www.ism.ws/   Step 1: Roll cursor onto ISM Report on Business in the left-hand menu bar and then click on "Latest Manufacturing ROB" to obtain PMI
Labor Productivity & Unit Labor Costs http://stats.bls.gov   Step 1: Roll cursor onto "Subject Areas" in the top menu bar and click on "Labor Productivity and Costs" under "Productivity"
Step 2: Click on "Productivity and Costs" under "LPC News Releases:"
Step 3: Scroll down to near the bottom and click on "Table 1. Business sector"
Step 4: Scroll down to obtain the most recent quarterly index values for "Output per hour of all persons" and then scroll up to obtain "Percent change from previous quarter at annual rate" for "Output per hour of all persons" & "Unit labor costs"
Producer Prices http://stats.bls.gov/ Step 1: Roll cursor onto "Subject Areas" in the top menu bar and click on "Producer Price Indexes" under "Inflation & Prices"
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 "PDF" 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: Roll cursor onto "Subject Areas" in the top menu bar and click on "Consumer Price Index" under "Inflation & Prices"
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: Roll cursor onto "Subject Areas" in the top menu bar and click on "National Employment" under "Employment"
Step 2: Click on "Employment Situation" under "CES News Releases:"
Step 3: Scroll down to "Employment Situation Summary Table B" and find the change in nonfarm employment in the last column and average weekly hours for all employees
Consumer Confidence http://www.conference-board.org/ Step 1: Click on "Consumer Confidence" in the right-hand menu bar
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 "Select Statistical Releases" and then click on "Consumer credit -- G19" under "Household Finance" in the upper right
Step 2: 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 "New Residential Construction"
Step 3: Scroll down to Table 3 and see Total in first column
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"
Step 3: Scroll down to Table 1 and see United States in first column
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"
Step 3: Scroll down to Table 1 and see United States in first column
Private Borrowing http://www.federalreserve.gov   Step 1: Click on "All Statistical Releases" under "Select 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 "Select Statistical Releases"
Step 2: Click on "weekly" under "Interest Rates"
Step 3: Find the latest "Week Ending" federal funds rate, bank prime-loan rate and 3-month Treasury-bill rate

Long-term Interest Rates http://www.federalreserve.gov   Step 1: Click on "All Statistical Releases" under "Select Statistical Releases"
Step 2: Click on "weekly" under "Interest Rates"
Step 3: Find the latest Week Ending 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 "Begin using the data..."
Step 3: Click on "Begin using the data..."
Step 4: Click on "SECTION 3 - GOVERNMENT CURRENT RECEIPTS AND EXPENDITURES"
Step 5: Click on "Table 3.2. Federal Government..."
Step 6: 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 "Interactive Tables: Detailed estimates"
Step 3: Click on "Begin using the data..."
Step 4: Click on "Table 1. U.S. International Transactions"
Step 5: See lines 72, 74 & 77
Exchange Value of the Dollar
 		 http://www.federalreserve.gov   Step 1: Click on "All Statistical Releases" under "Select Statistical Releases"
Step 2: Click on "Foreign Exchange Rates" under "Exchange Rates and International Data"
Step 3: Scroll down to "Major Currency" under "Foreign Exchange Rates"
Step 4: Obtain data for latest date
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All rights reserved. Copyright 2012 Michael B. Lehmann.