What's New - May 2003

Site of the Month: TheDataWeb  Express

Our site of the month for April is TheDataWeb, a new site developed  as a collaboration between the U.S. Census Bureau and the Centers for Disease Control.

TheDataWeb is a network of online data libraries. Topics include, census data, economic data, health data, income and unemployment data, population data, labor data, cancer data, crime and transportation data, family dynamics, vital statistics data.  But where this site really shines is as a terrific starting point for working with microdata.   

TheDataWeb is home of that lovable creature the DataFerrett, now in its latest incarnation as a slick java-based application that runs in most browsers.  DataFerrett lets you easily sift through huge microdata collections to select just the records of interest. DataFerrett does most of the tedious work of preparing tables of data which you can then extract in a format for use in SPSS, SAS, Excel or Access.  And, if you're not familiar with how to work with microdata, there are helpful tutorials on using DataFerrett to mine microdata.  

In addition, participation TheDataWeb is open to other providers of data, so if you wish to make one of your databases available to a wider audience, you can publish your data to TheDataWeb.  Get started with microdata by visiting:  http://www.thedataweb.org/

Life with NAICS

If you are a frequent user of BLS employment data, you know that the transition to the new NAICS (North American Industry Classification System) is well under way.  The workhorse Current Employment Statistics (CES) state and local data series converted to NAICS classification with the March 2003 data release.  To ease the transition, BLS has produced a new historical series casting previous data (back to 1990) in the NAICS framework.  State and local data are available at:  http://www.bls.gov/sae/home.htm#data.  Click on the link to "Create Customized Tables (one screen)."

If you're looking for comparable national data, though, you'll need to be patient a few more weeks, the conversion to NAICS for that series happens with next month's data release.  For details, see:
http://www.bls.gov/ces/cesnaics.htm

Employment Statistics:   Comparisons and a Glossary

Ever have trouble keeping track of which employment statistics come from which source, and what their individual strengths and weaknesses are?  A helpful and concise table summarizing the differences between principal local employment series is posted on the website of the Minnesota Workforce Center.  For each major employment series, you'll find a description, methodology, scope (who is included and excluded from each data series), frequency of publication, and strengths and weaknesses.  http://www.mnworkforcecenter.org/lmi/glossary/index.htm

And if you work extensively with data generated by a labor market information (LMI) organization in your state, its helpful to have a guide to some of the terminology that they use.  An excellent glossary of these terms is also on the Minnesota Workforce Center's site:  http://www.mnworkforcecenter.org/lmi/glossary/glossary.htm

New Links Added

May's new links focus on air transportation.  The aftermath of 9/11 and the recession have made it a particularly challenging time for the nation's air travel industry, and much of that story is chronicled in the statistics gathered by the industry and federal regulators.  Passenger travel is down from peaks established two or three years ago, several major national carriers are in or facing bankruptcy and the industry as a whole is very much in the throes of change.  Check out these sites to get a sense of how the industry is faring.

Air Transport Association
Airline Industry Facts and Figures
In particular, see Selected U.S. Airports at a Glance, ATA Airline Almanac, and Passenger Origin-Destination Survey.
http://www.airlines.org/public/industry/display1.asp?nid=1026

Airports Council International
Airport Traffic
Passenger, cargo, and aircraft movements.
http://www.airports.org/traffic/index.html

Aviation Consumer Protection Division, Department of Transportation
Air Travel Consumer Report
http://www.dot.gov/airconsumer/index1.htm

Federal Aviation Administration
Air Traffic Control
Air traffic activity by FAA control center and airport tower, published quarterly.
http://www.ama500.jccbi.gov/factbook/

Civil Aviation
Set of links to wide variety of civil aviation data sources within the FAA and DOT.
http://www.faa.gov/apa/PI4stats.htm

Enplanement and All-Cargo Data
http://www.faa.gov/arp/Planning/ADstats.htm

National Aviation Safety Data Analysis Center
http://www.nasdac.faa.gov/internet/

Publications
Access to FAA publications providing state data on commercial air traffic, general aviation, and civil airmen, and forecasts of aviation activity by airport.
http://api.hq.faa.gov/pubs.asp

Office of Airline Information, Bureau of Transportation Statistics
Airline Information
Access to data on airline operations, for airports and states. Topics include airport activity, flight on-time performance and delays, and taxi-in and -out times.
http://www.bts.gov/oai/

Office of Aviation and International Affairs, DOT
International Air Passenger and Freight
U.S.-international flight activity in terms of passengers, seats, departures, and freight, 1990-latest year.
http://ostpxweb.ost.dot.gov/aviation/international-series/monitoring.htm