Discontinuation of the Statistical Abstract of the United States

The U.S. Census Bureau has announced that it is going to discontinue the publishing of the print and online versions of the Statistical Abstract of the United States (first published in 1879). The proposed Federal 2012 budget does not include funding for the Statistical Compendia Branch which would mean the elimination of not only the Statistical Abstract, but all titles produced by that branch (State and Metropolitan Area Data Book, County and City Data Book, etc.).  Confirmation from the Census Bureau is listed at GPO Access under the topic “Statistical Abstract and the Consolidated Federal Funds Report, and other noted publications from the Statistical Compendia Branch (Census Bureau).”

The Statistical Abstract is a heavily used starting point for finding statistical information.   To see a 45 second video prepared by librarians at the University of Texas at San Antonio explaining what you can find in the Statistical Abstract, access http://librarygrapevine.wordpress.com/nesting-page/april-2011/statistical-abstract/.