January 2026 Issue

As a valued U.S. Census Bureau partner and stakeholder, this newsletter is designed to keep you informed and engaged.

I recently had the privilege of speaking at conferences honoring two economists who’ve made huge contributions to the profession and, most importantly for this blog, to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Mark Roberts of Penn State University and John Haltiwanger of the University of Maryland and their colleagues used Census Bureau data to change how economists and policymakers view the economy and how the Census Bureau measures it.

Beyond their scientific contributions, both Mark and John have served the Census Bureau in a variety of roles.

The “space economy” continues to soar and younger workers are fueling the industry’s upward trajectory.

The extraterrestrial industry accounted for $142.5 billion (0.5%) of U.S. GDP in 2023, combining activities from the Manufacturing, Transportation, and Information sectors, including Satellite Telecommunications and Guided Missile and Space Vehicle Manufacturing.

The Census Bureau recently released the first ever Quarterly Workforce Indicators (QWI) at the national industry level. These data will allow users to view and download economic indicators such as employment, job creation, earnings and other measures of employment flows for six-digit North American Industry Classification System codes.

OnTheMap Updated With 2023 Employment Data

The Census Bureau has updated the Longitudinal Employer-Household Dynamics (LEHD) Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES) and the OnTheMap application to include:

• 2023 employment data
• Backfilled data for Mississippi from 2019 to 2022
• Updated geography to the 2024 TIGER/Line vintage