Economics and Statistics Administration

WASHINGTON – The Commerce Department’s U.S. Census Bureau today released data on new residential construction for July 2011. Permits for new housing units fell 3.2 percent following a small increase in June. Private-sector analysts had expected a 1.8-percent decline. The decrease was driven by multi-family homes with five or more units. Permits for single-family homes and those with two-to-four units both increased. Housing starts declined 1.5 percent in July after a large increase in June. Private-sector analysts had expected a 4.6-percent decrease.

WASHINGTON – The Commerce Department’s U.S. Census Bureau today released retail sales data for July 2011. Retail sales increased 0.5 percent, similar to private-sector expectations, and sales in May and June were revised upward, each by 0.2 percent. Motor vehicle sales increased 0.5 percent in July, and sales at gasoline stations jumped 1.6 percent. Sales excluding those at motor vehicle and parts dealers and gasoline stations also rose 0.5 percent.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Acting U.S. Commerce Secretary Rebecca Blank issued the following statement today on the release of the June 2011 U.S. International Trade in Goods and Services report by the Commerce Department's U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis. Today's report showed that U.S. exports of goods and services in June 2011 decreased 2.3 percent from May 2011 to $170.9 billion. The monthly export value for U.S. consumer goods ($15.0 billion) was the highest on record. U.S. imports of goods and services decreased 0.8 percent over this period to $223.9 billion, causing the U.S. trade deficit to increase 4.4 percent since May 2011 to reach $53.1 billion in June 2011.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The U.S. Commerce Department’s Economics and Statistics Administration (ESA) today issued the second in a series of reports on science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) jobs and higher education.

As expected, the report, Women in STEM: A Gender Gap to Innovation, finds there are fewer women than men in STEM jobs and attaining degrees in STEM fields. But interestingly, that’s true despite the fact that the wage premium for women in STEM jobs is higher than that for men and that there’s greater income parity between genders in STEM fields than there is in the employment market as a whole.

Women in STEM: A Gender Gap to Innovation

The U.S. Commerce Department’s Bureau of Economic Analysis today released personal income and outlays data for June 2011. Personal income rose 0.1 percent in June, consistent with private-sector forecasts. Wages and salaries, the largest component of income, remained unchanged despite a decline in June hourly earnings. Real consumer spending was also unchanged, in line with private-sector expectations.