New economic data for business journalists to use

Brian Moyer, the director of the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, announced new data tools for journalists at a panel at the at the Society of American Business Editors and Writers annual conference in Chicago.

Quarterly GDP by industry: Before last year, the quarterly GDP was only available annually. The new quarterly statistics will provide a more timely snapshot of how individual industries fare and contribute to U.S. economic growth. There are about 22 sectors, but Moyer said the BEA hopes to expand to 65 in the next couple of years.

Quarterly GDP by state: There are 22 industry sectors included per state

Consumer spending by state: This is the first time BEA has had in in-depth look on how spending patterns vary across states. Within each state, there are 16 different consumer spending categories.

Arts and cultural production: Arts and culture make up about 4 percent of the country’s GDP, Moyer said. The BEA plans on working with the National Endowment of the Arts to produce real and inflated adjusted numbers and to get a state breakout of that data.

Health care satellite account: The new database is broken out by disease rather than provider. It includes annual statistics for 200-2010 that provides information on spending to treat different diseases. With the database, journalists are able to look at price over time, but not at quality of care.

Foreign investment survey: The new survey was launched in late 2014 and lays the groundwork for BEA to produce new statistics about investments made by foreign companies in United States.

In the future:

Advance trade data: Census Bureau will begin producing an advance monthly report on international trade goods. Currenlty the BEA incorporates two months of official trade data but must rely on assumptions for the third month for the first estimate of quarterly GDP. The advance trade data will improve the BEA’s estimate.

Small business satellite account: BEA will work with the Small Business Administration to develop a small business GDP broken out by industry and region. Moyer said the BEA has to define “small business” and harmonize data that already exists.

Claire Williams is a senior at the UNC-Chapel Hill School of Journalism and Mass Communication.