commerce department

Gov. Gina Raimondo, the first woman to lead Rhode Island, is cutting short a second term as governor to oversee an eclectic portfolio of U.S. Commerce Department agencies, including the Census Bureau.

Retail sales soared 5.3% last month compared to December, much more than anticipated, as U.S. families began receiving new federal coronavirus relief checks.

Rhode Island Gov. Gina Raimondo, expected to oversee the U.S. Census Bureau as the next commerce secretary, says she will "rely on the experts" at the agency to ensure the 2020 census is accurate.

Restaurants and bars are reeling from spikes of coronavirus cases in their communities. Earlier holiday sales meant online shopping and electronics sales dipped in December. Retail sales fell 0.7%.

If confirmed, Gov. Gina Raimondo, the first woman to lead Rhode Island, would oversee the Census Bureau as it finishes a fraught national count that has been upended by COVID-19 and Trump officials.

Hackers invaded computer systems at the departments of Treasury, Commerce and Homeland Security as far back as the spring, according to the government and media reports.

U.S. GDP grew at a record 33.1% annualized pace in the third quarter, erasing some but not all of the damage done by the coronavirus recession.

Curtailing the time for conducting the census in the middle of a pandemic will lead to "fatal data quality flaws that are unacceptable," Census Bureau career officials warned in an internal document.

A bipartisan Senate bill could solve a scheduling conundrum that is putting the national count, along with the distribution of federal funding and political representation, in serious jeopardy.

The Constitution says that count must include every person living in the U.S. A three-judge court in New York has ruled to block the Trump administration's attempt to exclude unauthorized immigrants.