Published annually from 1878 to 2011, the statistics described social, political and economic conditions in the United States.
The Census Bureau ceased publication with the 2012 edition, released in August 2011; the Bureau stopped compiling the data for the Statistical Compendia program, including the Abstract and supplemental publications, on October 1, 2011.
[1] In preparation for the Fiscal Year 2012 (FY 2012) budget, the Census Bureau did a comprehensive review of a number of programs and had to make difficult proposals to terminate and reduce a number of existing programs in order to acquire funds for higher priority programs.
The decision to propose the elimination of this program was not made lightly.
To access the most current data, please refer to the organizations cited in the source notes for each table of the Statistical Abstract.
Both the book and online versions of the Statistical Abstract would vanish.
Alesia McManus, library director at Howard Community College in Columbia, started a Facebook page and launched a petition dedicated to reversing the decision, wrote Samuelson.
He quoted one librarian as writing “If the library were on fire, this would be the reference book I would try and save first”, and another as saying “[The] Statistical Abstract has for years been one of the top five reference books used by students and faculty at South Dakota State University.” Samuelson said he didn't think the librarians' protest would have much effect.
[3] Joseph Dionne[4] and Paul Krugman[5] published columns agreeing with Samuelson.
[6] The list price of the 2012 Department of Commerce edition was $20 (paperback), free online.
[8] In 1975, a Bicentennial Edition, Historical Statistics of the United States, Colonial Times to 1970, in two volumes, was published.
The 2010 (129th Edition) Statistical Abstract of the United States has 30 sections, 926 pages, and more than 1,300 tables, covering more than 200 topics, including income and wealth, imports and exports, agriculture, energy production and consumption, natural resources, and some international comparisons.
All information is downloadable in PDF and Excel spreadsheet formats.
It is also designed to serve as a guide to other statistical publications and sources.
State and Local Government Finances and Employment (Tables 416−456) Sec.
Metropolitan and Micropolitan Statistical Areas: Concepts, Components, and Population Appendix III.
Weights and Measures Appendix V. Tables Deleted From the 2009 Edition of the Statistical Abstract Two specialized data series issued irregularly by the Census Bureau constitute Statistical Abstract supplements: