The Under Secretary for Economic Affairs is a high-ranking official in the United States Department of Commerce that serves as the principal economic adviser to the United States Secretary of Commerce. The Under Secretary is ex officio the Administrator of the Economics and Statistics Administration. The Under Secretary oversees two statistical agencies - the Bureau of Economic Analysis and the Census Bureau - that gather, calculate, and disseminate much of the U.S. demographic, social and economic data including reports on the nation's gross domestic product, retail sales, personal income, housing starts, inventory levels and international trade.[1] Through the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Economic Development, the Under Secretary supervises the activities of the Economic Development Administration.
The position was created by an Act of Congress on June 16, 1982.[2] The Under Secretary for Economic Affairs is fourth in the line of succession for Secretary of Commerce.[3]
The priorities of the Under Secretary for Economic Affairs include advising the Secretary of Commerce on economic trends and policy; retaining and improving the quality of the nation's economic and demographic indicators; and ensuring the successful preparation and implementation of the re-engineered 2010 decennial census. The incumbent Under Secretary is Rebecca M. Blank, who was sworn in on June 9, 2009.[1]