Congress wrapped up its funding for the federal government for fiscal year 2022 in March, the sixth month of the fiscal year. With the Biden administration releasing its fiscal year 2023 within a few weeks, Congress had to almost immediately start the process again. The National Institutes of Health and National Science Foundation both received 4 percent increases. Several statistical agencies also received 3–6 percent increases.

In the latest feature examining the state of the US data infrastructure, the Count on Stats team spoke with three experts on the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). Katharine Abraham was BLS commissioner from 1993–2001, and Erica Groshen was BLS commissioner from 2013–2017. Ken Poole is the chief executive officer of the Center for Regional Economic Competitiveness and longtime and widely recognized leader in the BLS data user community.

The NIH, NSF, and several federal statistical agencies received increases, but many are facing fiscal challenges after years of purchasing power loss.

The ASA, in cooperation with the Bureau of Labor Statistics and Bureau of Economic Analysis under a grant from the National Science Foundation, is offering senior research fellow programs for 2021.

While all the principal federal statistical agencies have efforts to address the COVID-19 pandemic, this article highlights several related to the economy, health, and transportation.

The people of the Bureau of Economic Analysis have to be economic data pioneers. Here is a snapshot of a few of the data projects BEA’s economists are working on.

President Barack Obama’s requested budget for Fiscal Year 2017 maintains his record of proposing generally healthy increases for the NIH, NSF, and many federal statistical agencies, but realizing increases of any amount will be challenging.

Brent Moulton, associate director for national economic accounts of the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA), was selected recently to receive the 2015 Julius Shiskin Memorial Award for Economic Statistics.

The Council of Professional Associations on Federal Statistics (COPAFS) acts as an advocate for the development and dissemination of high-quality federal statistics. Member organizations include professional associations, businesses, research institutes, and others interested in federal statistics. Through COPAFS, members have an opportunity to review and affect issues such as timeliness, quality, confidentiality, and the relevance of data. COPAFS holds quarterly meetings, the last one taking place on June 3.

Amstat News invited Bureau of Economic Analysis Director J. Steven Landefeld to respond to several questions so readers could learn more about him and the agency he directs.