Data collected by the U.S. Census Bureau are all around us. Here are a few recent examples from the news:

• Last week, the U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Dept. of Housing and Urban Development announced the latest numbers for new single-family home sales in the month of September. The rate of homes sold in the month of September (307,000) was 6.6% above the August rate (288,000).
• Home ownership remains at a low of 66.9%, according to a recent U.S. Census Bureau report. The last time home ownership was this weak was nearly a decade ago in 1999 when it dropped to 66.7%.
• According to the U.S. Census Bureau’s Factory Orders indicator, new orders for manufactured goods in September, which were up for the third straight month, rose from $8.8 billion to $420.0 billion.
• According to a survey the U.S. Census Bureau conducts every five years for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Pennsylvania has more turkey hunters than any other state.
• U.S. Census Bureau’s “America’s Families and Living Arrangements: 2009” shows 33% of children in America live apart from their biological fathers.
• Census’ Current Population Survey showed an increase nationally from 6.7 million unmarried couples living together in 2009 to 7.5 million couples in 2010, an increase of 13%.
• Data from the 2008 American Community Survey, including how many commuters spend an hour or more in traffic on the way to work and the average weekly hours people spend at work, was used in ranking America’s Most Relaxed Cities.

For more information on data collected by the U.S. Census Bureau, including for the Economic Census, Census of Governments and American Community Survey, click here.