Business Librarian
Best bets for data
Subscription data
These sources are paid for by JMU. You will need to log in with your e-ID/password and Duo to access them.
- Mergent Online This link opens in a new window
This link opens in a new window
Content type(s): Contains U.S. and international publicly-held company data and reports. Datasets can be downloaded as Excel files.
Dates covered: 1993 to present - WRDS This link opens in a new windowContent type(s):Financial datasets from COMPUSTAT (public companies), CRSP (security prices) and CUSIP Master File (financial instruments issuers), and RiskMetrics (corporate governance).
Dates covered: 1925 - present - BizMiner This link opens in a new windowContent type(s): Industry research and data reports on more than 16,000 lines of business in national and local markets.
Dates covered: Most recent 5 years
United States data sources
These are common sources of data freely available online.
- American Economic Association - Data resourcesThis site links to the most useful and popular economics data sources, categorized by data type.
- Bureau of Economic AnalysisGDP and other economic data from the national, regional, and international accounts programs of the U.S. Department of Commerce.
- Data.govThe home of the US Government's open data.
- Federal Reserve Economic DataDownload, graph, and track 498,000 U.S. and international time series from 87 sources.
- U.S. Bureau of the CensusOfficial census data for the United States at the level of states, counties, cities, metropolitan areas and other defined geographic areas.
- Consumer Expenditure Survey (BLS.GOV)High-level data on current buying habits of Americans, by demographics & type of purchase/service.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsFederal agency responsible for measuring labor market activity, working conditions, and price changes in the economy.
- ICPSR (Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research)Vast archive of social science data for research and instruction, available for download and re-use. These files require the use of statistical software, such as SAS, or, SPSS.
- Pew Research Center datasetsThis non-partisan public opinion polling organization makes its data available to the public for secondary analysis after a period of time.
Virginia data sources
- DataVANon-sensitive, public information about the Commonwealth that is made freely available for public use in an easily readable format.
- Weldon Cooper Center for Public ServiceThe Demographics Research Group at UVA produces the official annual population estimates for Virginia and its localities;
International data sources
- Data | The World BankEconomic and development indicators by country, from 1960 to present. View data by country, topic, indicators or in a data visualizer tool.
- UNDataContains more than 60 million data points cover a wide range of themes including Agriculture, Employment, Energy, Environment, Health, Industry, Information and Communication Technology, Refugees, Trade, etc.
- World Economic OutlookMacroeconomic data by country from the International Monetary Fund. Includes inflation, unemployment, commodity prices, trade data, etc.
- Penn World TablesDownload GDP, GDP per capita, exchange rate and population data for 183 countries, from 1950 to 2019. Data exports available for Excel and Stata.
- BMI by Fitch Solutions This link opens in a new windowContent type(s): In-depth reports providing country risk ratings and macroeconomic forecasts for more than 200 global markets plus industry reports on major sectors and historical macroeconomic and industry data. NOTE: Users must log out of current session (under Settings) before logging in again to start a new session.
Dates covered: Current
Assistance with data
Finding the right data can be tricky. If you don't find what you need using the sources on this page, it's time to call an expert!
Set up a consultation using the schedule appointment buttons below my profile photo.
Do you have a data management plan?
A data management plan is a document outlining how a researcher plans to manage data during and after a research project including how it will be organized, maintained and shared.
JMU Libraries has a Data Services Librarian, Samantha Harmon, who can help talk to you about drafting your plan.