U.S. Federal Statistical System-Wide Products

The U.S. Federal statistical system collaborates on development of several periodic and one-time reports, publications, presentations, and other products in an effort to promote understanding of its initiatives, priorities, budgets, and activities. Products on this page are grouped by the entity from which they are published.

Community News and Upcoming Events

Recent updates relevant to the U.S. Federal statistical system:

• On August 25, 2023, OMB issued a Federal Register Notice of Solicitation of Comments on a proposal to modify one provision of OMB Statistical Policy Directive No. 3 to allow Executive Branch employees to comment publicly on Principal Federal Economic Indicator data thirty minutes after the official data release time, which would replace the current wait of one hour. The Principal Federal Economic Indicators are a set of statistical series that are widely watched and heavily relied upon by government and the private sector as indicators of the current condition and direction of the economy. Public input is important and needed to help inform OMB’s final determination. Comments are due by October 24, 2023, and can be submitted on regulations.gov under Docket ID “OMB-2023-0016”.
• On August 18, 2023, OMB published a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on the Fundamental Responsibilities of Statistical Agencies and Units, or the “Trust Regulation.” This marks a key milestone in the implementation of the Foundations for Evidence-Based Policymaking Act of 2018 (Evidence Act). For more information, read the announcement from the Chief Statistician of the United States.
• On July 21, 2023, OMB released OMB Bulletin No. 23-01, Revised Delineations of Metropolitan Statistical Areas, Micropolitan Statistical Areas, and Combined Statistical Areas, and Guidance on Uses of the Delineations of These Areas. This OMB Bulletin uses OMB’s 2020 Standards for Delineating Core Based Statistical Areas, and is the first delineation to use 2020 Decennial Census data. This enables a national, standardized geographic framework for collecting, tabulating, and publishing Federal statistics by geographic areas on topics, like crime victimization, food insecurity, health outcomes, and much more!
• On April 27, 2023, OMB published a Federal Register Notice - Request for Information seeking public input to help inform the work of the Bioeconomy Interagency Technical Working Group convened by CSOTUS. This Group is charged with proposing recommendations for revisions to North American Industry Classification System (NAICS), and the North American Product Classification System (NAPCS) to better characterize and measure the bioeconomy.
• The Office of the Chief Statistician of the United States (OCSOTUS) is seeking public comment on initial proposals for revising the statistical standards on race and ethnicity data, developed by the Interagency Technical Working Group on Race and Ethnicity Standards. For more information, visit the SPD15 ITWG website.
• The first-ever United States National Strategy to Develop Statistics for Environmental-Economic Decisions (National Strategy), published in January 2023, would create a United States system to account for natural capital and quantify the value this natural capital provides. The Chief Statistician of the United States (CSOTUS) will play a key role in moving aspects of this 15-year National Strategy forward by ensuring coordination across the U.S. Federal statistical system to generate consistent, comparable Federal statistics to track the condition and economic value of land, water, air, and other natural assets, as well as to lead development of a statistical classification system to underpin this work.
• Recommendations on the Best Practices for the Collection of Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Data on Federal Statistical Surveys, issued in January 2023, was developed by the OCSOTUS to provide recommendations for Federal agencies on the current best practices for the collection of self-reported sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI) data on Federal statistical surveys. These recommendations build on a long history of robust Federal efforts to develop and refine SOGI measurement best practices.
• The Advisory Committee for Data on Evidence Building issued its final report with recommendations on October 14, 2022. For more information, visit the ACDEB website.
• Save the Date: the next Federal Committee on Statistical Methodology (FCSM) Research and Policy Conference will be held on October 24-26, 2023. For more information, visit the FCSM website.
• OMB issued a plain language discussion of the current flexibilities of and best practices for collecting and reporting detailed Race and Ethnicity data under current standards in July 2022. For more information, visit the CSOTUS website.

Office of the Chief Statistician of the United States / Office of Management and Budget

The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and the Chief Statistician of the United States (CSOTUS) report on the priorities of the U.S. Federal statistical system and the budgets of statistical agencies, units, and programs through two key publicly available documents: 1) Chapters in the Analytical Perspectives (AP) volume of the President's Budget, and 2) Reports to the Congress on the Statistical Programs of the United States Government (Report). In some years, CSOTUS has contributed to other relevant AP chapters. Highlights of those most relevant to the U.S. Federal statistical system are included below.

These AP Chapters and Reports back to Fiscal Year (FY) 2017 are available below.

• FY 2024:
  • AP: Leveraging Federal Statistics to Strengthen Evidence-Based Decision-Making
• FY 2023:
  • AP: Leveraging Federal Statistics to Strengthen Evidence-Based Decision-Making
  • Report: Forthcoming
• FY 2021/2022:
  • Report: Forthcoming
• FY 2019/2020:
  • AP: Strengthening Federal Statistics
  • AP: Building and Using Evidence to Improve Government Effectiveness
  • Report: Statistical Programs of the United States Government
• FY 2018:
  • AP: Strengthening Federal Statistics
  • AP: Building and Using Evidence to Improve Government Effectiveness
  • Report: Statistical Programs of the United States Government
• FY 2017:
  • AP: Strengthening Federal Statistics
  • AP: Building the Capacity to Produce and Use Evidence
  • Report: Statistical Programs of the United States Government

As the leader and coordinator of the U.S. Federal statistical system, CSOTUS also leverages a variety of public engagement strategies to communicate with and hear directly from the public, including important stakeholders and communities, as well as to publicly share information on key initiatives, strategic priorities, and other important information about the U.S. Federal statistical system.

In addition to public briefings, meetings, and events, CSOTUS aims to transparently and equitably provide important information through public announcements. Recent announcements are available below:

• In August 2022, CSOTUS announced the launch of new public listening sessions on Federal race and ethnicity standards revision.
• In June 2022, CSOTUS announced the launch of the review and revision process for OMB's standards for maintaining, collecting, and presenting federal data on race and ethnicity.

In addition, CSOTUS is responsible for publishing the schedule of release dates for Principal Federal Economic Indicators each calendar year. This publication is posted no later than September 30th each year for the upcoming calendar year. Schedules for recent years back to 2017 are linked here: 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017.

Interagency Council on Statistical Policy

The Interagency Council on Statistical Policy (ICSP), in its role advising and assisting the CSOTUS on challenges and opportunities facing the U.S. Federal statistical system, produces reports and publications, as needed, to address such challenges and opportunities. Some example products include:

ICSP Products:

• 2023:
  • The Use of Private Datasets by Federal Statistical Programs: Extent, Challenges, and Lessons Learned
• 2022:
  • Federal statistical datasets allowing disaggregation of Asian, Native Hawaiian, and Other Pacific Islander communities.
• 2021:
  • Statistical Agency Changes in Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic
• 2018:
  • Principles for Modernizing Production of Federal Statistics

In addition, ICSP members engage with the public and important stakeholder bodies to communicate with and hear directly from the public, as well as to publicly share their perspectives on the work of the U.S. Federal statistical system.

Federal Committee on Statistical Methodology

The Federal Committee on Statistical Methodology (FCSM), in its role advising and assisting the CSOTUS and ICSP on technical challenges and opportunities facing the U.S. Federal statistical system, produces technical products, including reports and publications, as needed, to address such challenges and opportunities.

Products of the FCSM are available on the FCSM website.

Related Links

• Chief Statistician of the United States
• Federal Committee on Statistical Methodology
• Commission on Evidence-Based Policymaking
• Advisory Committee on Data for Evidence-Building