Reference · built on requestCommons signalEconomic & calendar reference

Census Economic Indicators Time Series

Monthly and quarterly economic indicators from the Census Bureau's timeseries/eits endpoints, keyed by program, category, and time.

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About

The Economic Indicators Time Series database sits under https://api.census.gov/data/timeseries/eits/, one sub-endpoint per program: marts and mrts for retail and food services, advm3 and m3 for manufacturers' shipments, inventories, and orders, resconst and ressales for housing, ftd for international trade, vip for construction spending, mwts for wholesale, qss for quarterly services, and others such as bfs, hv, mtis, qfr, qpr, qtax, and mhs. A query names variables such as cell_value, data_type_code, category_code, and seasonally_adj, a time predicate, and a key. Results are a JSON array of arrays, or CSV with outputFormat=csv.

On Fibric, an operator reads the advance retail sales or housing starts rows for your category and proposes a demand-outlook update or a seasonal build change for your approval, citing the program code and time slot.

This is a reference listing. It documents what Fibric would read from Census Economic Indicators Time Series and what it could propose, based on the publisher's published interfaces. Fibric builds it under a managed deployment when you request it; selecting it here installs nothing.

Inputs

  • marts and mrts: advance and monthly retail and food services sales by category_code, with seasonally_adj yes or no
  • resconst and ressales: new residential construction and new home sales; vip: construction spending
  • advm3 and m3: manufacturers' shipments, inventories, and orders; mtis: manufacturing and trade inventories and sales
  • ftd: U.S. international trade in goods and services; mwts: monthly wholesale sales and inventories
  • Per row: cell_value, data_type_code, time_slot_id, error_data, category_code, seasonally_adj, and geo_level_code where a program carries it
  • Quarterly programs qss, qfr, qpr, and qtax, plus bfs for business formation statistics

Proposed actions

Read-only. This feed informs operators; it changes nothing.

Proposed actions are target capabilities. Every action runs propose-first and needs a validated deployment and the appropriate permissions.

What you can build

  • Update a demand outlook on advance retail sales

    Query marts each month for your category_code with seasonally_adj=yes. When the new cell_value moves against the outlook, the operator proposes a revision and shows the time slot and value.

    With Demand Outlook

  • Size a seasonal build against inventories and orders

    Read m3 shipments and inventories for your industry. When the inventory-to-shipments trend shifts, the operator proposes a build adjustment and attaches the data_type_code rows it used.

    With Season Build

  • Explain a channel-mix change with the trade release

    Pull ftd exports and imports for the month. When your import-sourced channel moves with the release, the operator proposes an annotation quoting the program and time.

    With Channel Mix

Requirements

  • An email address ending in .com, .net, .org, .gov, or .edu for the key request; the key arrives by email with a registration link
  • A key on every data query; the user guide says an API key must be used with all data queries to the Census Data API
  • A time predicate such as time=2015-01 or time=from+2015-01; wildcards do not work on time
  • The attribution notice from the Terms of Service in any application that uses the API
Authentication
A free Census Data API key requested at api.census.gov/data/key_signup.html with agreement to the terms of service, appended to every call as &key=.

Limits

  • Up to 50 variables in a single API query
  • Wildcards work for geographies and string variables only, not for time or numeric predicates
  • The dataset listing shows N/A for vintage; each program's variables page states which fields are required
  • The Census Bureau may impose limitations on access, calls, or use and may block users who exceed or circumvent them

Access and pricing

Reference listing. Public feed access is separate from Fibric integration. If you request this feed, your quote covers the build, usage, and support.

Request Census Economic Indicators Time Series ↗

Questions and answers

What does a query look like?
A GET such as api.census.gov/data/timeseries/eits/resconst?get=cell_value,data_type_code,time_slot_id,error_data,category_code,seasonally_adj&time=2004-05&key=YOUR_KEY. The first array is the header row; each following array is one observation. Add &outputFormat=csv for CSV.
Is a key required?
Yes. The developers page states that all data queries to the Census Data API now require an API key. Registration is free of charge through the Request a KEY form, and you place the key after &key= at the end of the URL.
How do I filter by time?
Use the time predicate: time=2015 for a year, time=2015-01 for a month, time=2015-Q1 for a quarter, time=from+2015-01 for a range to the present, or time=from+2015-01+to+2015-06. Wildcards are not allowed in time predicates.
Ask about Census Economic Indicators Time Series

Ask about the capabilities and requirements in this listing.

For project-specific requirements, contact Fibric.

This Commons signal listing is developed, published, and supported by Fibric. It reads public data published by U.S. Census Bureau (api.census.gov). Upstream agencies and projects are the property of their respective owners, who are not affiliated with Fibric and do not sponsor or endorse this listing. Trademark policy