Business, Economics, and Labor

Best places to start

• Small Business Administration
  The Small Business Administration web portal provides information and resources for small business owners and potential owners, including guides for business plans.
• EDGAR
  This is the Security and Exchange Commissions database of filings of public companies registered in the United States, including annual reports (10K), quarterly reports, proxy statements and other SEC required filings. It includes printable forms required for filers. EDGAR Company Search Video
• Bureau of Labor Statistics
  The Bureau of Labor Statistics web site provides access to the CPI(Consumer Price Index); the PPI(Producer Price Index); employment and unemployment statistics; wages; and occupational information.

United States sources

• Bureau of Economic Analysis
  The Commerce Department's Bureau of Economic Analysis provides National Accounts information, including the GDP, national income, personal income, and international accounts (balance of payments and trade statistics).
• Using Edgar to find SEC Corporate Filings(Video)
  This video provides an example of how to search for an annual report and a proxy statement using the SEC Edgar web site
• FedBizOpps.gov
  This site privdes a searchable database of business opportunites available through federal government contracts.
• O*Net
  O*Net is an online database of information pertaining to current occupations available to citizens, including detailed descriptions of occupations, prospective wages and salaries for those occupations, and geographic location for the best prospects.
• Occupational Outlook Handbook
  The Occupational Outlook Handbook is a compendium of occupational information, including educational requirements, prospects and salaries for occupations in the United States.
• Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago
  The Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago provides access to banking, finance and economic information, including economic research publications.
• Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve
  This is the web portal for the Federal Reserve Bank in the United States.
• Economic Indicators
  This site provides access to current and past economic indicators, including the GDP, employment, unemployment, wages, CPI, PPI, income, money, credit, security markets, and finance.
• Financial Data
  This site provides online access to this weekly publication from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. The data provided is cogent and is also the most recent released by the Federal Reserve System of the United States.
• NAICS (North American Industrial Classification System)
  This is the complete web version of the North American Industrial Classification System (NAICS). This is a system of classification of current United States business statistics according to industry or type of business. NAICS Search Video
• SIC (Standard Industrial Code)
  This site, provided by OSHA, provides web access to the Standard Industrial Code which was a system for classification of United States business statistics until it was replaced by the NAICS.
• Securities and Exchange Commission
  This is the government agency that regulates and oversees the securities (stocks, bonds, mutual funds, and etf's) markets.
• U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission
  This is the web portal for the federal government agency that oversees the regulation of the commodity futures and options markets in the United States.
• International Trade Administration
  This is the web portal of the U.S. Commerce Department's International Trade Administration.
• Interactive Tariff and Trade Dataweb
  This site provides access to the International Trade Administration's database of tariffs, import, and export information.
• Federal Trade Commission
  The Federal Trade Commission site provides resources for consumer information from the federal government.
• Department of Labor
  This executive agency web site provides information pertaining to labor topics including wages, health plans, unemployment insurance, occupational information and labor market information for the entire United States.
• Economic Indicators.gov
  This web site, maintained by Economic and Statistics Administration, provides quick access to the major economic indicators of the U.S. economy.
• Council of Economic Advisors
  This is the web site of the CEA that advises the President of the United States on economic matters.
• Global Edge (International Business) This site, produced by Michigan State University, provides information pertaining to international business, including information about doing business in most of the countries throughout the world.
• National Labor Relations Board
  This is the web portal for the National Labor Relations Board which was established by the National Labor Relations Act of 1933.
• Export.gov Market Research
  This web site provides access to market research conducted throughout the world and access to the U.S. Commercial Service's Market Research Library.
• Commerce Business Daily (CBDNET)
  This web site provides access to the most current business opportunities, projects, and proposals available from the United States government.
• Survey of Current Business
  This site provides online access to this publication by the United States Department of Commerce which has the most recent statistics related to United States business and international business.
• Treasury Bulletin
  This site provides online access to this publication of financial statistics by the United States Department of the Treasury.
• Flow of Funds Accounts of the United States
  These are the statistics on the Flow of Funds as reported by the Federal Reserve system with current and historical statistics.
• Federal Reserve Bulletin
  This site provides web access to the Federal Reserve Bulletin, which publishes the most recent financial and banking data for the United States.
• 2007 Economic Census
  This site provides access to the most recent economic censuses including the censuses of manufacturing, wholesale trade and retail trade. It also includes the economic census done in 2002.
• County Business Patterns
  This site provides access to the pdf versions of this former print publication. The most current information (after 2004)can be retrieved in tabular format that is customizable from a searchable database.
• Census of Manufactures
  This site provides web access to the Census of Manufactures and also has a link to the Annual Survey of Manufactures.
• Overview of Economic Statistics Program
  This site provides web access to economic and business statistics gathered by the Census Bureau for use by businesses and local and municipal governments.
• Fed In Print
  This web site, presented by the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, provides a comprehensive index to the research publications of the entire Federal Reserve System and includes links to those available on the web in digitized format.
• Zip Business Patterns
  The Census Bureau provides online access to business statistics for businesses, industries, and services by zip code throughout the United States.
• County and City Data Book 2007
  This site, provided by the Census Bureau, provides access to the 2007 and 2002 County and City Data Books.
• County and City Data Books
  This web site, presented by the University of Virginia library, provides online access to the County and City Data Books.
• U.S. Commodities Futures Trading Commission
  This is the government agency that oversees the commodities and options trading markets.

Wisconsin sources

• Wisconsin Department of Commerce
  This is the Wisconsin Department of Commerce web portal, with information related to promotion of business in Wisconsin.
• Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development
  The Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development provides access to information for workers and employers related to job seeking and labor markets.
• Worknet
  This is a web site of the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development; statistics include job and career information, economic statistics, and labor market information (employment, unemployment, and wages).
• Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection
  This is the web portal for the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade, and Consumer Protection.
• Wisconsin Department of Financial Institutions
  This is the web portal of the Wisconsin agency that oversees banking and other financial institutions in the state of Wisconsin.
• Wisconsin Department of Revenue Real Estate Transfer Database
  This site provides a database of all filings of the Real Estate Transfer Form which is a required form for all real estate transactions in Wisconsin.

International sources

• International Monetary Fund
  This is the portal for the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
• World Bank
  The World Bank is a vital source of financial and technical assistance to developing countries around the world. The bank is made up of 185 member nations.
• Inter-American Development Bank
  This is the web portal for the IDB, which provides financing for economic activity in Latin America and the Caribbean.
• Economic Policy Institute
  This is the web portal for the Economic Policy Institute, which provides economic policy recommendations as an independent organization.
• National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)
  This site provides access to publications of the NBER and data related to current economic activity.
• UN National Accounts
  This is a United Nations database of national accounts information, including GDP, GNI, exchange rates, value of imports and exports, and value of business activity for all of the countries reporting.
• U.N. COMTRADE
  This site provides access to international trade statistics and national accounts information collected by the United Nations. Access to some of the information might require a login. Search Video