U.S. International Trade in Goods and Services   CHART

The Nation's international deficit in goods and services decreased to $36.0 billion in January 2009 from $39.9 billion in December, as imports decreased more than exports.

Manufacturing and Trade Inventories and Sales   CHART

U.S. total business sales for January were $1,004.0 billion, down 1.0% from last month. Month-end inventories were $1,440.1 billion, down 1.1% from last month.

Advance Monthly Sales for Retail and Food Services   CHART

U.S. retail and food service sales for February reached $346.8 billion, a decrease of 0.1 percent from the previous month.

Quarterly Services Survey   CHART

U.S. Information sector revenue for the fourth quarter of 2008, adjusted for seasonal variation but not for price changes, was $278.9 billion, a decrease of 1.2 percent (+/- 0.5) from the third quarter of 2008.

Monthly Wholesale Trade: Sales and Inventories   CHART

January 2009 sales of merchant wholesalers were $326.1 billion, down 2.9 percent from last month. End-of-month inventories were $424.2 billion, down 0.7 percent from last month.

Manufacturers' Shipments, Inventories, and Orders   CHART

New orders for manufactured goods in January decreased $6.9 billion or 1.9 percent to $351.9 billion.

Construction Spending   CHART

Total construction activity for January 2009 ($986.2 billion) was 3.3 percent below the revised December 2008 ($1,020.0 billion). Please see our web site for further details: http://www.census.gov/constructionspending

New Home Sales   CHART

Sales of new one-family houses in January 2009 were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 309,000. This is 10.2% below the revised December 2008 estimate of 344,000.

Advance Report on Durable Goods Manufacturers' Shipments, Inventories, and Orders   CHART

New orders for manufactured durable goods in January decreased $9.0 billion or 5.2 percent to $163.8 billion.

Housing Vacancies and Homeownership   CHART

Homeownership Rate (HR)
The homeownership rate in the fourth quarter 2008 (67.5 percent) was not statistically differerent from the fourth quarter 2007 rate (67.8 percent). No region showed a significant change from corresponding rates in the fourth quarter 2007.

Rental Vacancy Rate (RVR)
The rental vacancy rate in fourth quarter 2008 (10.1 percent), was higher than the fourth quarter 2007 rate (9.6 percent).

Homeowner Vacancy Rate (HVR)
The homeowner vacancy rate in fourth quarter 2008 (2.9 percent) was not statistically different from the fourth quarter 2007 rate (2.8 percent).

Housing Starts/Building Permits   CHART

Privately-owned housing starts in January 2009 were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 466,000. This is 16.8 percent below the revised December 2008 estimate of 560,000.

Quarterly Financial Report - Retail Trade   CHART

After-tax profits for retail corporations with assets greater than $50 million averaged 1.6 cents per dollar of sales for the third quarter 2008 (the 3 months ending Oct. 31, 2008), down 0.7 (+/- 0.1) cents from the average of 2.3 cents for the second quarter 2008 (the 3 months ending Jul. 31, 2008).

Quarterly Financial Report - Manufacturing, Mining and Trade   CHART

Manufacturing corporations' seasonally adjusted after-tax profits averaged 7.5 cents per dollar of sales for the third quarter of 2008, up 1.4 (+/- 0.1) cents from the average of 6.1 cents for the second quarter of 2008.