Foster Business Library


Business Statistics Resources


Foster Business Library research guides are aimed at University of Washington students, faculty, and staff, highlighting resources available to them; users not currently affiliated with the university may be unable to access some of these resources.
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Foster Business Library Databases:

The Foster Business Library offers an extensive collection of over fifty databases on its homepage; see under Databases. For a complete list of Foster databases, see the List of All Business Databases. Access to these databases from off campus requires that you first go to the Off-Campus Access button, in the upper right of all library webpages. These resources may not be accessed from off campus except by those with a valid UW Net ID and password. For more information on Foster business databases, click Databases, A-Z. For information on which Foster business databases to use, see the Database Index. For information on accessing Foster databases from off campus, see Database Access. For guidelines on responsible database usage, see Database Usage.

  • EIU Online:     This database, provided by the Economist Intelligence Unit, provides online access to their print editions of the annual Country Profiles, quarterly Country Reports, and Country Commerce, for nearly 200 countries, with both current and retrospective publications. There is also access to the Unit's Viewswires, with more up-to-date coverage of countries and topics, as well as other information. Country information includes a great deal of statistical data, some of which may be downloaded to spreadsheets.

  • Global Financial Data:   On the Foster Business Library homepage, listed under Databases. This database provides access to over 20,000 series of long-term global financial and economic data, both current and historic, gathered from original sources and historic archives, for more than 200 countries. Data is in ASCII or Microsoft Excel format.  

  • InfoTech Trends:   On the Foster Business Library homepage, listed under Databases. Formerly called Computer Industry Forecasts. InfoTech Trends indexes statistics and forecasts published in computer and telecommunication trade publications.

  • Source OECD:   On the Foster Business Library homepage, listed under Databases. Source OECD is the online library of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, with twenty OECD book collections by theme, including all of the organization's monographs and reports published since 1998; twenty OECD periodicals; some OECD reference titles; and the OECD databases. See their SourceOECD Statistics.

  • STAT-USA:   On the Foster Business Library homepage, listed under Databases. This database provides Web-based access to business, economic and trade statistics and data from the U.S. Department of Commerce and other Federal government agencies.

  • Statistical Universe:   Under Databases on the Foster Business Library homepage. Statistical Universe is an index to statistical data in commercial, international and U.S. government publications. Try the Power Tables for quick access to tables of data in GIF format, many of which can be downloaded into Excel spreadsheets. Start with the Subject Index to find statistical tables. See also the Search Abstracts and the Links features.

    Web Resources:

    Unlike library databases, Web resources are available wherever you have web access; they do not require that you access them via the Off-Campus Access button, in the upper right of all library webpages. When using web resources, be sure to evaluate the credibility of these resources. For a subject index to web resources, see Business Resources on the Web on the Foster Business Library homepage.

  • BizStats:   "BizStats is the leading free online source for small business statistics. BizStats collects, analyzes, edits and adds value to public data and delivers it without cost in an easy-to-read, easy-to-understand format." Among the statistics available are those for benchmarking, balance sheets, financial ratios, net profit, productivity, corporations and S-corporations,industry markets, calculators, and more.

  • Business & Industry Statistics (Business Resources on the Web):   Under Research Links, on the Foster Business Library homepage, is Business Resources on the Web, with annotated links to 19 business topics, including Business & Industry Statistics. This section includes links to general business statistics, plus statistics for Airlines & Aerospace, Automobile & Transportation, Dairy, Energy Industries, Fisheries, Food & Agriculture, Health, Fitness & Sporting Goods, and Other Industries.

  • Business Resources on the Web:   Alternatively, under Research Links, on the Foster Business Library homepage, you can use the search box for the term Statistics to search the A to Z List of All Business Resources; over 10 sites are listed.

  • EconoMagic:   This free website offers economic data, with more than 200,000 time series for which data and custom charts can be produced; included are employment, GDP, stock market and exchange data, real estate, economic forecasts, and more.

  • Economic Statistics by Geography, Sector, and Frequency (U.S. Census Bureau):   This U.S. Census Bureau, Economic Programs website provides a huge amount of information about business and industry in the United States, from sources such as the Economic Census, Statistics of U.S. Businesses, the Annual Survey of Manufactures, etc.

  • EconStats:   This site is provided by MacroEcon Global Advisors, Inc., which says it is "dedicated to providing a wide range of economic data for students and professionals, needing data fast and well-organized. Contributors to the site include several PhD economists at a variety of universities, both in the U.S. and abroad." It offers a very comprehensive array of U.S. and international economic data including GDP, stock market and exchange data, real estate, economic forecasts—and the job market for economists.

  • Facster:   This statistical reference site includes the Statistical Abstract of the United States in an easy-to-search form, along with state statistical abstracts, foreign statistical abstracts, government agency and nongovernmental organization statistical abstracts, and more. As an example of what this site offers, see their Comparative International Statistics.

  • Human Development Report:   "The Human Development Report is an independent report. It is commissioned by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and is the product of a selected team of leading scholars, development practitioners and members of the Human Development Report Office of UNDP." See Data by Indicator for agriculture, carbon dioxide emissions, cellular subscribers, debt service, drugs, employment by economic activity, energy use, exports, FDI, GDP, imports, and much more.

  • International Statistical Agencies (U.S. Census Bureau):   This U.S. Census Bureau website provides links to the national statistical offices of foreign countries, regions, and international organizations, many of which provide information in English (except where noted).

  • Internet Surveys & Statistics:   See this section, under Research Links, on the Foster Business Library homepage, for CyberAtlas, InfoQuest, Internet Surveys & Statistics, Internet Facts and Statistics, InternetStats.com, Network Wizards Internet Domain Survey, and Nua Internet Surveys.

  • Macroeconomic Time Series Data Source Locator:   "This service provides you with a list of macroeconomic data sources available at the University of Chicago categorized by year, geographic location and subject. Types of sources include books, journals, yearbooks, CD-ROMs and Internet resources. For each source we determined the oldest date listed for a particular data category (balance of payments, bond market related, etc.). There are approximately 68 titles listed within this database with many more to be added." "If you are not affiliated with the University of Chicago, we ask that you contact your local library before attempting to contact us." See the List of Sources, some of which are available in the UW Libraries, and, in particular, the Foster Business Library.

  • National Income and Product Accounts Tables Index (Bureau of Economic Analysis):   This site from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, provides access to 197 BEA National Income and Product Accounts tables, by keyword, in an A to Z arrangement. See their Download Instructions and Help sections.

  • OFFSTATS--Official Statistics on the Web:   This site, from the University of Auckland Library in New Zealand, offers links to statistics issued by official governmental organizations, by country, by region, or by topic. As an example, see the official statistics for Italy or for a topic such as Commodities.

  • Social Science Data Archives:   This site for statistical data, from the Sociology Department at the University of Amsterdam, is arranged by country and by region, as well as worldwide. See also their Reference and Statistics/Software links.

  • Sources of Statistical Information:   This site for sources of statistical information, from the London Business School Library, is arranged by topic, and by region (United Kingdom, Europe, International), with a mix of print and electronic resources. This document is in Adobe Acrobat PDF format, three pages long, in chart form.

  • Statistical Data Locators:   This excellent and award-winning site, from the Nanyang Technological University Library, in Singapore, is organized by region, with a link to Financial Data and Resource Locators, covering international finance, banking, stocks exchanges.

  • Statistical Resources on the Web (University of Michigan):   Provided by the Documents Center at the University of Michigan, this site provides a topic-based index to statistical information. See, in particular, the section for Business/Industry.

  • Statistics (HealthLinks):   Another U.W. library with statistics information is the Health Sciences Library, with links to statistics on economics, education, ethnicity, professions, the Puget Sound area, Northwest states, international, and vital statistics. See also their list of Statistical Topics.

  • U.S. Government Statistics:   Other U.W. libraries offer information and links to statistics and data, including the Government Publications Section in the Suzzallo/Allen Library, with census, crime, economy and trade, education, and other statistics. See also their International Inter-Governmental & Non-Governmental Organizations webpage for more statistical links.

  • Washington State Data Book:   Published every two years by Washington state's Office of Financial Management, the "Data Book contains eleven major sections:  Population, Economy, State Government Finance, Human Services, Criminal Justice, Education, Natural Resources, Environment, Energy, Transportation, and Local Government. These sections represent the type of information most frequently requested by a broad range of users." In particular, see the Economy chapter (17 pages in Adobe Acrobat PDF format).

    Foster Business Library Reference Collection:

    The Foster Business Library Reference Collection consists of business handbooks, encyclopedias, dictionaries, and other quick reference tools. It is located behind the Reference Desk in Foster, arranged by call number. Reference materials cannot be checked out; they may only be used in the library.

  • Yearbook of tourism statistics.
    This World Tourism Organization annual publication provides, for over 200 countries, statistical information about tourism for the years 1995 through 1999, including international visitors by country of residence.
    Foster Business Library Reference, CALL NUMBER: G149 .I73.

  • Compendium of tourism statistics.
    This World Tourism Organization annual publication provides, for over 200 countries, statistical information about tourism, including inbound tourism, with arrivals by region and mode of transport, purpose of visit, length of stay, tourism expenditure, as well as domestic and outbound tourism, and tourism activities. More detailed statistics from this organization are available in the Yearbook of tourism statistics, in the Foster reference collection, call number G149 .I73.
    Foster Business Library Reference, CALL NUMBER: G155 .A1 .T5896.

  • United Nations statistical yearbook.
    This United Nations publication is a compilation of statistical data from over 40 international and national sources, on national accounts, industry, energy, transport and trade, demographics and many other subjects.
    Foster Business Library Reference, CALL NUMBER: HA12.5 .U63 1998.

  • International marketing data and statistics.
    Demographic trends and forecasts, economic indicators, labor force, trade, energy, environment, consumer expenditures and market size, and retailing information for the Americas, Asia, Africa and Oceania; companion volume to European marketing data and statistics.
    Foster Business Library Reference, CALL NUMBER: HA42 .I56 2003.

  • Statistical abstract of the world.
    This older reference work is arranged alphabetically by country, with statistical data for 185 countries, on geography, human factors, education, science and technology, government and law, labor force, production sectors, manufacturing, and finance, economics, and trade. For most countries, data is from about 1960, at the earliest, to 2010, for projections.
    Foster Business Library Reference, CALL NUMBER: HA154 .S83 1994.

  • Datapedia of the United States.
    This one-volume work covers United States population, vital statistics and health, migration, labor, national income and wealth, consumer income and expenditures, social statistics, land--water--climate, agriculture, forestry--fisheries, minerals, construction--housing, manufacturing, transportation, communications, energy, distribution--services, international trade, business enterprises, productivity--technological development, financial markets--institutions, and government.
    Foster Business Library Reference, CALL NUMBER: HA202 .D378 2007.

  • Statistical abstract of the United States.
    Information about many industries as well as demographic information; check index for references to tables. The sources for each table are often a valuable source of additional information.
    Foster Business Library Reference, CALL NUMBER: HA202 .U56 2007.
    Also available online.

  • European marketing data and statistics.
    Demographic trends and forecasts, economic indicators, labor force, trade, energy, environment, consumer expenditures and market size, and retailing information for European countries.
    Foster Business Library Reference, CALL NUMBER: HA1107 .E87 2003.

  • World development indicators.
    This World Bank volume contains a large number of tables listing each country and key data about its people, environment, economy, markets, employment, poverty, etc.
    Foster Business Library Reference, CALL NUMBER: HC59.15 .W656.
    Also available, in part, online.

  • Business statistics of the United States.
    This reference work, now in its tenth edition, covers the U.S. economy in detail, including GDP, industrial production, income distribution, consumer income and spending, savings and investment, government spending, foreign trade, prices, employment, energy, money and markets, international comparisons, industries, historical data, and state and regional data. Over 3,400 time series are included in this volume.
    Foster Business Library Reference, CALL NUMBER: HC101 .A13122 2007.

  • Yearbook of labor statistics.
    This huge annual volume, published by the International Labour Organization, provides a copious amount of data and information about worldwide labor force numbers, employment and unemployment, working hours, wages, labor costs, occupational injuries, and strikes and lockouts.
    Foster Business Library Reference, CALL NUMBER: HD4826 .I63.

  • Employment, hours, and earnings: states and areas.
    This compilation of data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics is the first to use the NAICS codes for employment data, for the U.S., the fifty states, and the country's largest metropolitan areas. See Washington state, and Seattle, Spokane, and Tacoma, on pages 1099 to 1118.
    Foster Business Library Reference, CALL NUMBER: HD5723 .A26 2005.

  • International trade statistics yearbook.
    This two-volume annual work, published by the United Nations, provides statistics for international trade, volume one arranged by country, volume two by commodity.
    Foster Business Library Reference, CALL NUMBER: HF91 .Y4.

  • Business statistics on the web.
    This reference work covers the basics of statistics, who generates and publishes statistics, industry sources, market research sources, economic and financial statistics, company, demographics and population statistics, etc.
    Foster Business Library Reference, CALL NUMBER: HF1016 .B47 2003.
    (See also the author's A to Z index to Business Statistics on the Web)

  • International financial statistics yearbook.
    Published annually by the International Monetary Fund, this compendium of statistics for every country provides information on population, GDP, producer, wholesale and consumer prices, wages, labor force, unemployment, volume and value of imports and exports, and many other categories. Statistics cover each year of the past 30 years, where data is available. The most recent decade of the monthly version of this yearbook is available in the Foster Business Library Reference collection, with the call number HG3881 .I626
    Foster Business Library Reference, CALL NUMBER: HG3881 .I6263.

    Foster Business Library Books:

    The Foster Business Library maintains a collection of over 70,000 books on all business topics. To search for materials on all three campuses of the University of Washington, go to the UW Libraries Catalog, in the upper left corner of the Foster Business Library homepage. Search by keyword, title, author, series, etc.

    To limit the results of your search just to materials in the Foster Business Library collection, use the Modify or Limit options at the top of the search results and change the library location to Foster Business Library. Availablity is indicated on the right of each online catalog record. First, note in which collection, within Foster, your materials are in, since the library has ten different Collections, each in a different location and often with differing arrangements. "Available" indicates that the book should be on the shelves under that call number and available for you to check out. "Due" and a date indicates that the book is already checked out to someone and is due back on the date indicated; you can have the "Request/Place Hold" feature to recall the book for your use.

    If the material you want is not in the collections of the University of Washington, you can use the "Search Summit" feature to repeat your search in the combined holdings of over thirty cooperating libraries in Washington and Oregon. Use the "Request This Item" feature in Summit to have books in those library sent here to Foster for you to check out.

    The Foster general stacks collection is located south of the main part of the Foster Business Library, through the two pass-throughs into the basement of Balmer. The arrangement is by call number, from A (at the east end, near the Copy Center) to Z (at the far west end).

    A keyword search for Statistics or Statistical, limited to the Foster Business Library, retrieved over 1,700 records. A keyword search for Business Statistics, limited to the Foster Business Library, produced over 35 records. Examples include:

    Relevant subject terms include:

    Statistics are more often encountered as subheadings on business topics, as in International Trade -- Statistics

    Foster Business Library Periodicals:

    Foster Business Library Articles:

    Articles in academic journals, magazines, trade periodicals, and newspapers are one of the best sources for any kind of research. While the Foster Business Library offers a large periodicals print collection, comprising over 800 titles, articles are most easily accessed online, 24/7, in such fulltext article databases as EBSCO Business Source Premier, Factiva, LexisNexis Academic, Newsbank Infoweb, and ProQuest Databases. These article databases are available in the library or from off-campus, and provide access to over 10,000 periodicals and millions of articles.

    Library access to most ProQuest databases will terminate at the end of spring quarter 2008, except for ProQuest NewsStand, ProQuest Dissertations and Theses, Historical New York Times, and the Historical Wall Street Journal. For more about this change, see UW Libraries Providing New Databases. After this change, comprehensive article searches should be performed in EBSCO Business Source Premier, Newsbank Infoweb, and ProQuest NewsStand. Also, after this change, links to the articles below will be broken.

    ProQuest Databases:

    This database--actually, a family of over two dozen databases--offers full text articles for over 10,000 publications, including scholarly journals, magazines, trade and industry periodicals, newspapers, and reports on a very wide range of topics. To find articles on specific topics, search by word or phrase by keying your search phrase into the search box--or search for your topic in the Topic Guide.

    Your search terms will be highlighted in red in each article.

    To find articles about statistics, add SUB(Statistical Data) to searches for industries or business topics.

    For example, a search in this database, for SUB(Automobile Industry) and SUB(Statistical Data), produced a list of over 1,600 articles, including over 80 articles in scholarly journals, over 130 magazine articles, over 1,200 articles in trade and industry periodicals, and just three newspaper articles. Help:

    14 January 2003; updated 26 March 2008.   Peter Stevens, Business Librarian, stevens@u.washington.edu