Pursuant to the requirements of the Propane Education and Research Act of 1996 (PERA), the Department of Commerce prepared this analysis of changes in propane prices relative to other energy sources. The report presents the relevant price data and concludes that propane prices have not exceeded the threshold established by PERA.

Over the past year, there has been some concern over the potential economic impact of unusually high natural gas prices. Although natural gas prices declined from $10 per thousand cubic feet (mcf) in December 2005 to about $6 recently, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) expects prices to return to the unprecedented price levels of last year as we move back into this winter’s heating...

Pursuant to the requirements of the Propane Education and Research Act of 1996 (PERA), the Department of Commerce prepared this analysis of changes in propane prices relative to other energy sources. The report presents the relevant price data and concludes that propane prices have not exceeded the threshold established by PERA.

People, over time, generally experience changes in income and economic well-being. Measures such as poverty rates and median income are useful for understanding general economic trends; however, these aggregates often mask the extent of income variability experienced by individuals. Longitudinal surveys, by tracking the same households over time, allow for the study of personal income dynamics.

After two years of retrenchment, information technology-producing industries now show signs of resuming the dynamic role they played during 1996–2000.

The second half of 2000 marked a turning point in recent economic experience and gave new urgency to questions about the nature and durability of the new economy. Answers to these questions should be clearer on the far side of the slowdown. For analysts standing in the hollow of the process, however, the challenge is still to assess developments in information technology-producing and -using...

Few technologies have spread as quickly, or become so widely used, as computers and the Internet. These information technologies are rapidly becoming common fixtures of modern social and economic life, opening opportunities and new avenues for many Americans. A Nation Online: How Americans Are Expanding Their Use of the Internet shows the rapidly growing use of new information technologies across...

Robust investment in information technology (IT) played a major role in the acceleration of output and productivity growth from 1996 to 2000. Until now, however, very little was known about the extent to which small and medium-size enterprises (SMEs) were taking part in the digital economy. This report examines new evidence of how small and medium-sized businesses are faring in the new economy –...