The U.S. Census Bureau today premiered a new daily data product: the Index of Economic Activity (IDEA). The index effectively combines 15 of the primary economic data series produced by the Census Bureau to yield a single time series as a weighted combination. IDEA will live at the top of the Census Bureau Briefing Room webpage at .
IDEA is calculated daily and published at 11:30 a.m. It incorporates the most recent values for each component series, including new estimates and revisions to previous estimates released for any of its component series. Values for the index are available from August 2004 to the present and will be updated on each business day moving forward. Historical data of the index are also available for download.
New data products, like these experimental statistics, provide additional insight into the state of the economy and respond to data user requests for timely, accurate and granular data.
For more information, view the IDEA methodology and IDEA FAQs. This is the first version of this experimental data product. The Census Bureau plans to continually refine the index and invites users to provide feedback on how to improve this experimental product.
No news release associated with this product. Tip sheet only.
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