What's New — October 2000

 
SITE OF THE MONTH

October's Site of the Month is RECON: Regional Economic Conditions. This site, maintained by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation to help bank examiners track changes in local economies, is now available to the public. Use RECON's easy point-and-click interface to generate tables and charts of data on employment, income, wages, home sales, unemployment and other variables. Data are available for states, metro areas and counties. You can use RECON's drop-down menus to view standard graphs,
tables, and maps depicting economic conditions and how they have changed over time.

RECON also computes location quotients and offers an annual, state-level measure of economic diversity. A handy 'shopping cart' feature lets you assemble a series of charts and tables and then print them at the end of your session. Check out this great new resource at:
http://www2.fdic.gov/recon/

 
NEW LINKS ADDED

We've recently added a number of new links to the site, including:

  • U.S. Housing Market Conditions from the Department of Housing and Urban Development-A quarterly review of housing market conditions in regions and metro areas.
    http://www.huduser.org/periodicals/ushmc.html
  • United States Census Historical Data Browser-A query-based interface from the University of Virginia for accessing state- and county-level Decennial Census data from 1790 to 1970. You can generate tables with information on a large variety of census questions, including population, national origin, industrial employment and other characteristics.
    http://fisher.lib.virginia.edu/census/
  • MNI Manufacturers database-A searchable listing of more than 390,000 manufacturing firms nationwide. Search by firm name, employment or sales, geography, industry code or key word. Basic firm information (address, number of employees, industry classification) available free; detailed information (contact names and phone numbers) may be purchased on a per record basis.
    http://manufacturersnews.com/searchdownload.asp

 
EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT DATA FOR 1999

1999 educational attainment data for states and metro areas have been released by the Bureau of the Census. These data are extremely useful for analyzing variations in aggregate workforce quality across states, and metro areas.
http://www.census.gov/population/www/socdemo/educ-attn.html


1998 GROSS STATE PRODUCT DATA

BEA recently released its 1998 estimates of Gross State Product (GSP) the broad measure of the value of output of goods and services. According to BEA, the data illustrate the impact of the new economy on regional growth patterns. Data are available at the state level, and a new point and click interface helps you select just the data points you need.
http://www.bea.doc.gov/bea/regional/gsp/default.cfm


ECONDATA.NET NAMED DIGITAL LIBRARIAN'S SITE OF THE MONTH

The Argus Clearinghouse named EconData their "Digital Librarian's" site of the month for October 2000. They commend EconData.Net for providing "a very smooth interface, solid summaries of each resource, and a convenient "Top Ten" list for those who want to cut to the chase. Savvy business researchers will like this site." Read more at:
http://www.clearinghouse.net/dla.html


BACK IN PRINT: OUR USER'S GUIDE TO SOCIOECONOMIC DATA

We ran very low on printed copies of our handy "complete dummies" style guide to finding and using data. But thanks to the generous support of the Economic Development Administration, additional copies of "Socioeconomic Data for Understanding Your Regional Economy: A User's Guide" are again available. You can get your copy free by sending an email to Mr. John McNamee, at the Economic Development Administration, U. S. Department of Commerce. Don't forget to include your mailing address.
mailto:jmcnamee@doc.gov