Encyclopedia > United States Department of Commerce

  Article Content

United States Department of Commerce

Dept. of Commerce
Established:February 14, 1903
Activated:February 18, 1903
Renamed:March 4, 1913
Secretary:Donald L. Evans[?]
Deputy Secretary:Samuel W. Bodman[?]
Budget:$5.8 billion (2003)
Employees:39,000 (2003)

The United States Department of Commerce is a Cabinet department of the United States government concerned with promoting economic growth. It was originally created as the United States Department of Commerce and Labor on February 14, 1903. It was subsequently renamed to the Department of Commerce by President Taft on March 4, 1913, and its bureaus and agencies specializing in labor were transferred to the new Department of Labor.

The mission of the department is to "promote job creation and improved living standards for all Americans by creating an infrastructure that promotes economic growth, technological competitiveness, and sustainable development." Among its tasks are gathering economic and demographic data for business and government decision-making, issuing patents and trademarks, and helping to set industrial standards.

It is administered by the United States Secretary of Commerce. From 1903 to 1913, it was administered by the United States Secretary of Commerce and Labor.

Operating Units

External Links



All Wikipedia text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License

 
  Search Encyclopedia

Search over one million articles, find something about almost anything!
 
 
  
  Featured Article
Islandia, New York

... 7.0% who are 65 years of age or older. The median age is 36 years. For every 100 females there are 92.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there are 88.8 ...

 
 
 
This page was created in 30.1 ms