From playing games to looking up recipes, there seems to be an app for just about everything. And now, there’s even an app to help you keep track of the U.S. economy!
The Census Bureau just unveiled the “America’s Economy” app, which provides real-time statistics about the U.S. economy. The statistics are provided by a number of government organizations, including the Commerce Department’s Census Bureau, the Bureau of Economic Analysis, and the Labor Department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics.
So, what kind of information can you get from this app?
You’ll be able to see a variety of monthly economic indicators from different federal departments.
Here’s how it all breaks down:
From the Census Bureau, you’ll be able to see real-time updates for 14 different economic indicators:
– Advance Monthly Retail Sales
– New Residential Construction
– New Residential Sales
– Construction Spending
– International Trade
– Advance Report Durable Goods
– Business Inventories
– Manufacturers’ Goods
– Monthly Wholesale
– Homeownership Rate
– Quarterly Services Survey
– QFR – Retail Trade
– QFR – Manufacturing
The Bureau of Economic Analysis will provide indicators regarding America’s Gross Domestic Product, along with personal income and outlays.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics will provide real-time indicators regarding the national unemployment rate.
Along with the indicators, this app will also provide real-time trends that are affecting the U.S. economy. There’s even a section of the app that posts a schedule of upcoming economic-related announcements. This is the first time information like this has ever been made available to smartphone and tablet users with just the push of a button.
According to the Census Bureau, making this information available in a handy app can help business owners make hiring and production decisions, along with helping economists, researchers, planners, and policymakers.
In order to make things even easier, you can set notifications in the app so that you’re alerted whenever something is updated. You can also link the app to your smartphone or tablet’s calendar, so that you have a handy way to keep track of announcements. You can even link the app to your Facebook and Twitter so that you can share updates with your social media contacts.
“The America’s Economy app will empower anyone needing information about the U.S. economy with timely statistics right on their mobile devices,” said Census Bureau Director Robert Groves. “The release of this app is an example of our commitment to giving taxpayers faster and easier access to the statistics we produce, including the Economic Census, that impact the lives of all Americans.”
The app is part of the Census Bureau’s Web Transformation Project, which is part of President Obama’s Digital Strategy — a strategy that’s aimed at giving the public more access to government information. In fact, the Census Bureau has plans to release two more apps over the next few months.
Right now, the “America’s Economy” app is only available for Android users. However, it’s expected to be available for Apple users in a few weeks.
If you want to learn about the economic data that the Census Bureau produces, log onto http://www.census.gov/econ/.
If you want to learn more about the economic data that the Bureau of Economic Analysis produces, log onto http://bea.gov/.
If you want to learn more about the economic data that the Bureau of Labor Statistics produces, log onto http://www.bls.gov/.