Data Points: New resources and other noteworthy developments

New PCE Classification System: In a May 2 presentation to the agency’s Advisory Committee, Clinton McCully of the Bureau of Economic Analysis described recent changes in the classification system for personal consumption expenditures (PCE), which had not been updated since it was created in 1944. Among other things, the new system is more consistent with other household surveys, and it improves the use of PCE for deflation by more precisely matching spending categories with price indexes.
http://www.bea.gov/about/pdf/McCully0508_v2.pdf

Three-Year Projections by Fed: With the release of the latest Federal Open Market Committee minutes, the Federal Reserve Board released its first three-year forecast. At the end of the minutes on the April 29-30 meeting, the Fed included its “Summary of Economic Projections” for 2008 through 2010.
http://www.federalreserve.gov/monetarypolicy/files/fomcminutes20080430.pdf   

Need Exchange Rate Data? Daily exchange rate data are available on the Federal Reserve’s Website. Posted from Monday through Friday, the daily updates are from the New York Fed’s global database at: http://www.federalreserve.gov/releases/H10/update/

Information Portal on World Food Crisis: The World Bank and the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization have launched a new information portal on the many facets of the global food crisis, including detailed price and output projections. Find links to reports and forecasts at: http://www.fao.org/worldfoodsituation/en/

Focus on Sports, Exercise:  In a new feature called “Spotlight on Sports,” the Bureau of Labor Statistcs draws on its American time use survey to track the frequency of exercise and sports activities by region as well as nationally.  It turns out that people living in the Pacific, New England, and Mountain regions are more likely to participate in sports or exercise than residents of other regions.  Due to budget restraints, BLS is planning to eliminate the time use survey in fiscal 2009.  See sports and exercise highlights at: http://www.bls.gov/spotlight/2008/sports/