Advances in Business Statistics, Methods and Data Collection

26Alternative Data Sources in the Census Bureau's Monthly State Retail Sales Data Product

Rebecca Hutchinson Scott Scheleur and Deanna Weidenhamer

US Census Bureau, Washington, DC, USA

26.1 Introduction/Overview

The US Census Bureau strives to provide timely and relevant data its data users. The COVID‐19 pandemic surfaced an urgent need for more timely data on the state of the economy at more granular geographies. This was particularly important for the retail trade sector. Pandemic‐related shutdowns and closures impacted retailers across the country with over 40% of retail store surfaces were closed during March 2020 (Wahba 2020). Retail analysts predict that over 20,000 retail stores will permanently close postpandemic (Richter 2020). In response to the urgent need for more timely data at the state level, the Census Bureau prioritized the creation of the Monthly State Retail Sales (MSRS) experimental data product.¹ The MSRS was created without any new data collections and without any additional respondent burden; thus, the focus was on using available survey and administrative data as well as available alternative data sources. The resulting MSRS is a blended data product that uses existing survey data, administrative data, and alternative data sources in a composite estimator. The MSRS is now published monthly with data available for each state and the District of Columbia² for all retail subsectors excluding nonstore retailers and food services.

Alternative data sources ...