January 2005  

The EconData.Net Monthly Newsletter

SITE OF THE MONTH:  Local Employment Dynamics

A superb new way of looking at employment
Last March, we profiled Quarterly Workforce Indicators, a new employment series generated by the Census Bureau.  The QWI series is part of a program called Local Employment Dynamics or LED for short.   We've had a chance to work with LED data over the past few months, and the more we see, the more we're impressed. LED represents a major breakthrough in socioeconomic data, and we've only begun to scratch the surface of its potential.

A partnership between the Census Bureau and 35 states combines information from unemployment wage records gathered by states and demographic information from administrative records, censuses and surveys.  This unique linking of employment and demographic data provides a totally new way of looking at local economies.

The site's four signature products are Quarterly Workforce Indicators (QWI) Online, On the Map, Local Workforce, and Top Industries.  QWI On-line provides a pivot table tool that lets you generate dynamic tables of workforce data examining industry employment by age, gender, industry and geographic location.  And you can assess not only total employment at a point in time, but also average wage levels, employment turnover (new hires and separations), and the entry and exit of firms from the economy.  

The other tools are also impressive.  Top Industries does just what the name suggests--identifies the top industries for employment of particular sub-groups of the population (by age, gender or other characteristics) for given geographic areas.  You can rank industries by employment or average wage.  A complement to the Top Industries tool is the local workforce tool, which can be used to characterize the local workforce by geography, age and gender.  The GIS component of the system "On the Map" is still under development, but you can take a tantalizing look at what's in store as the QWI data are used to map labor markets and commuting patterns.  We'll tell you more about "On the Map" in a coming edition of Stat-Scan.

We seldom use the terms "revolutionary" and "data" in the same breath, but once you use QWI, you'll know why:  this site does things like no one else on the web.  But don't take our word for it, pay a visit to:
http://lehd.dsd.census.gov/led/index.html

Dataplace:  A Guide for Housing Data

A One-Stop Resource for Housing and Demographic Data Supported by EconData.Net
In the last month, the KnowledgePlex® initiative sponsored by the Fannie Mae Foundation has released the beta version of DataPlace, which aims to be a one-stop source for housing and demographic data about neighborhoods, cities, regions, and the nation. DataPlace assembles a variety of data sets from multiple sources into charts, tables, and thematic maps, and also provides tools and guides to assist users in analyzing, interpreting, and applying the data so they can make more informed decisions.

DataPlace's site currently contains data from the 1990 and 2000 Censuses, Home Mortgage Disclosure Act, Section 8 Expiring Use database, and Consolidated Plan special tabulations. The data library will expand soon to include ZIP Business Patterns and Low-Income Housing Tax Credits. In the near future, users will be allowed to upload their own data as well.

We at EconData.Net are pleased to be a development partner of DataPlace--we're responsible for two supporting components of the site. The first is Housing Data News, a regularly updated feature providing the latest information on newly released data, as well as highlights from relevant reports and research as they become available. And the second is an organized set of web links to over 125 housing and demographic data resources, pulled directly from EconData.Net. Looking for information on the latest data releases on housing and related topics? Want to stay abreast of changes in major housing data collection programs? Needing to get access to housing and demographic data on your community? Look no further that DataPlace.

As we said, DataPlace is currently a beta site. The Fannie Mae Foundation strongly encourages you to visit the site and provide your feedback and comments so they can improve the full production release. The Fannie Mae Foundation is a primary sponsor of EconData.Net and Stat-Scan. We ask readers of Stat-Scan to repay the Foundation for their generosity by playing with DataPlace and let the Foundation know what you think.

http://dataplace.knowledgeplex.org/cds/

StanScan's New Look

Let us know what you think
After years of our simple, but staid formatting, we've shifted to a new sleeker look for Stat-Scan. We want to make it easy for you to find the information you need when Stat-Scan arrives in your inbox each month. You still have your choice of getting a text-only email, but to get a better picture of what we're telling you, be sure to look at our HTML formatted newsletter.   You can customize your settings email settings by clicking on the "To unsubscribe/change profile" link at the bottom of this page.
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Newsletter of the Month:  SSTI Weekly Digest

State Science & Technology Institute's Weekly Newsletter
A new feature for StatScan, starting with this issue, is our reviews of our favorite newsletters.  If you would like to improve the quality of what shows up in your email inbox--as well as stay on top of the latest economic data, we'll be highlighting some of the best newsletters available.

Our friends at the State Science and Technology Institute relentlessly publish their excellent weekly newsletter the SSTI Weekly Digest.  It focuses on state and local technology-based economic development activities, highlighting program information, recent reports, and interesting data.  SSTI regularly provides their own customized tabulations of data related to science and technology indicators.  The newsletter also includes a subscription to a companion service--the SSTI funding supplement, which describes current grant announcements.   Subscriptions are free.
http://www.ssti.org

NEW LINKS

Hunger and Poverty Estimates
Persistent poverty and hunger are still problems in communities throughout the nation.  The latest data show the extent of hunger, homelessness and poverty for cities, counties and metropolitan areas.

• Census Bureau, Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates
  http://www.census.gov/hhes/www/saipe/

• US Conference of Mayors, Hunger & Homelessness Survey
  http://www.usmayors.org/uscm/news/press_releases/documents/hunger_121803.asp

• US Department of Agriculture, Food Stamp Program County Level Data
  http://www.ers.usda.gov/data/foodstamps/fsp.txt

• US Department of Agriculture, Food Stamp Program Interactive Map Machine
  http://maps.ers.usda.gov/fsp/