Tuesday, July 31, 2012

2010 Modified Race Summary File

This downloadable file, summary table and documentation show the results of modifying the 2010 Census population from census race categories (which include “some other race”) into those consistent with the Office of Management and Budget standard categories (white, black or African-American, American Indian and Alaska Native, Asian, and Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander). Release includes information for counties by Hispanic origin, 31 race groups and five-year age groups.

Monday, July 30, 2012

How New York State Doles Out Its Education Dollar

From the Citizens Budget Commission

In school year 2012-13, school districts in New York are expecting to receive $20.4 billion in aid from New York State, an amount that comprises just over 40 percent of their total budgets on average. However, aid per student varies among districts. Some of the variation stems from the needs of the students within district boundaries and from resident taxpayers’ capacity to raise revenue locally. Still, historical patterns established decades ago, kept in place by “hold harmless” provisions built into aid formulas, also drive the distribution.
The CBC's new interactive map documents school aid variation by district. Click on or search for a school district to see state aid per student by major category, as well as measures of district need and ability to pay.



Saturday, July 28, 2012

Negative home equity INCREASE in Q4 2011

CoreLogic..., a leading provider of information, analytics and business services, released negative equity data showing that 11.1 million, or 22.8 percent, of all residential properties with a mortgage were in negative equity at the end of the fourth quarter of 2011. This is up from 10.7 million properties, 22.1 percent, in the third quarter of 2011. An additional 2.5 million borrowers had less than five
percent equity, referred to as near-negative equity, in the fourth quarter. Together, negative equity and near-negative equity mortgages accounted for 27.8 percent of all residential properties with a mortgage nationwide in the fourth quarter, up from 27.1 in the previous quarter. Nationally, the total mortgage debt outstanding on properties in negative equity increased from $2.7 trillion in the third quarter to $2.8 trillion in the fourth quarter.
Negative equity, often referred to as “underwater” or “upside down,” means that borrowers owe more on their mortgages than their homes are worth. Negative equity can occur because of a decline in value, an increase in mortgage debt or a combination of both.

More http://www.corelogic.com/about-us/news/asset_upload_file909_14436.pdf HERE.

Friday, July 27, 2012

Jewish Community Study of New York: 2011

From HERE:

UJA-Federation of New York presents the findings from the Jewish Community Study of New York: 2011, a comprehensive study of the world’s largest and most diverse Jewish community outside Israel. With 5,993 interviews — more than any other local or national Jewish community study — the findings and implications are vast. Users can download the whole report or select chapters.

The New York Jewish community in 2011 is large, growing, and incredibly diverse. Children, boomers, and seniors. Poor and affluent Jews. Lifelong New Yorkers, and immigrants from such diverse national origins as Russia and Israel. LGBT Jews. Hispanic and biracial households. Chasidic, Conservative, Modern Orthodox, Reconstructionist, Reform, and Yeshivish Jews. Jews who are nondenominational, have no religion or another religion, or who consider themselves partially Jewish. All these and more are strong threads in the fabric of the New York Jewish community.

[The report covers the five NYC counties, the two Long Island counties, and Westchester County.]

See also:
Study: Orthodox community boosts New York City's Jewish population

Leading Demographer Questioning N.Y. Population Survey; Orthodox overreported, non-Orthodox underreported, according to Brandeis’ Len Saxe.

Thursday, July 26, 2012

How to Get Disaster and Drought Assistance

A number of counties are currently being affected by drought. The USDA has crop updates for farmers, as well as information about crop insurance, assistance for livestock losses, and emergency farm loans.

Find drought assistance from the USDA.

Wednesday, July 25, 2012

Nearly 1 in 5 People Have a Disability in the U.S.

About 56.7 million people ─ 19 percent of the population ─ had a disability in 2010, according to a broad definition of disability, with more than half of them reporting the disability was severe, according to a comprehensive report on this population released today by the U.S. Census Bureau.

The report, Americans with Disabilities: 2010, presents estimates of disability status and type and is the first such report with analysis since the Census Bureau published statistics in a similar report about the 2005 population of people with disabilities. According to the report, the total number of people with a disability increased by 2.2 million over the period, but the percentage remained statistically unchanged. Both the number and percentage with a severe disability rose, however. Likewise, the number and percentage needing assistance also both increased.

“This week, we observe the 22nd anniversary of the Americans With Disabilities Act, a milestone law that guarantees equal opportunity for people with disabilities,” said Census Bureau demographer Matthew Brault. “On this important anniversary, this report presents a barometer of the well-being of this population in areas such as employment, income and poverty status.”

The statistics come from the Survey of Income and Program Participation, which contains supplemental questions on whether respondents had difficulty performing a specific set of functional and participatory activities. For many activities, if a respondent reported difficulty, a follow-up question was asked to determine the severity of the limitation, hence, the distinction between a “severe” and “nonsevere” disability. The data were collected from May through August 2010. Disability statistics from this survey are used by agencies — such as the Social Security Administration, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, and the Administration on Aging — to assist with program planning and management.

The report shows that 41 percent of those age 21 to 64 with any disability were employed, compared with 79 percent of those with no disability. Along with the lower likelihood of having a job came the higher likelihood of experiencing persistent poverty; that is, continuous poverty over a 24-month period. Among people age 15 to 64 with severe disabilities, 10.8 percent experienced persistent poverty; the same was true for 4.9 percent of those with a nonsevere disability and 3.8 percent of those with no disability.

Other highlights:
-- People in the oldest age group ─ 80 and older ─ were about eight times more likely to have a disability as those in the youngest group ─ younger than 15 (71 percent compared with 8 percent). The probability of having a severe disability is only one in 20 for those 15 to 24 while it is one in four for those 65 to 69.
-- About 8.1 million people had difficulty seeing, including 2.0 million who were blind or unable to see.
-- About 7.6 million people experienced difficulty hearing, including 1.1 million whose difficulty was severe. About 5.6 million used a hearing aid.
-- Roughly 30.6 million had difficulty walking or climbing stairs, or used a wheelchair, cane, crutches or walker.
-- About 19.9 million people had difficulty lifting and grasping. This includes, for instance, trouble lifting an object like a bag of groceries, or grasping a glass or a pencil.
-- Difficulty with at least one activity of daily living was cited by 9.4 million
non-institutionalized adults. These activities included getting around inside the home, bathing, dressing and eating. Of these people, 5 million needed the assistance of others to perform such an activity.
-- About 15.5 million adults had difficulties with one or more instrumental activities of daily living. These activities included doing housework, using the phone and preparing meals. Of these, nearly 12 million required assistance.
-- Approximately 2.4 million had Alzheimer’s disease, senility or dementia.
-- Being frequently depressed or anxious such that it interfered with ordinary activities was reported by 7.0 million adults.
-- Adults age 21 to 64 with disabilities had median monthly earnings of $1,961 compared with $2,724 for those with no disability.
-- Overall, the uninsured rates for adults 15 to 64 were not statistically different by disability status: 21.0 percent for people with severe disabilities, 21.3 percent for those with non-severe disabilities and 21.9 percent for those with no disability.

In addition to the statistics from this report, the Census Bureau also produces annual disability estimates from the American Community Survey (ACS). While the ACS uses a different definition of disability than in this report, it is capable of producing estimates of the population with disabilities at sub-national geographies like states, counties, places and metropolitan areas. The Census Bureau has been collecting data about certain disabilities since 1830, when Congress added questions to the census on difficulty hearing, seeing and speaking.

Tuesday, July 24, 2012

Newly developed 2010 PUMA reference files for NYS

The Program on Applied Demographics has just completed mapping the recently released 2010 PUMA reference files for New York. These are available for viewing and/or downloading via the http://pad.human.cornell.edu/maps2010/maps/NYS_PUMAs.pdf PAD website. The entire set are in PDF format. As an aid to those of you that might want to make comparisons to their work on 2000 PUMAs, reference maps showing the relationship between the delineations for 2000 and for 2010 are also provided. Recall that in the process of building the 2010 PUMA boundaries, the NY SDC strove to get sets of PUMAs to coincide with the ten economic development regions developed by the NY DED in collaboration with NY DOL. Accordingly the PAD maps reflect this. That is, all the 2010 PUMAS in the Capital region are presented on one map. All those contained in the Central region are in another map and so forth. Note #1: these are boundary maps only; the PUMS data corresponding to these have not been released yet. Note #2: these are packaged into a large PDF file (approximately 18 Mbyes) so be patient for the download. As always, let PAD know of problems with the file or individual maps.

Monday, July 23, 2012

Data Visualization Weekly Feature

The Census Bureau has launched Visualization of the Week, a new feature on census.gov. Each week, visualizations will explore a variety of statistical topics. The first posted visualizations pertain largely to historical population statistics and show changes in the growth and redistribution of the U.S. population. For later visualizations, the topics will expand beyond 10-year census statistics to include the full breadth of Census Bureau data sets and subject areas, from household and family dynamics, to migration and geographic mobility, to economic indicators. Each week, new visualizations will be posted, many of which will be interactive. All of the visualizations can be shared on social media sites. Internet address: <>.

Saturday, July 21, 2012

Census Bureau to Host Webinar on Discovering New Markets — Utilizing USA Trade Online

The U.S. Census Bureau is the official source for U.S. export and import statistics and is responsible for issuing regulations governing the reporting of all export shipments from the United States. This second webinar in the eight-part series demonstrates how to stay competitive in new and existing markets. Learn how to use the dynamic interactive Census Bureau tool, USA Trade Online, to identify top export destinations for products and measure the impact of foreign competition by analyzing import statistics.

See complete series.

The event will consist of a simultaneous audio conference and online presentation. A question-and-answer session will follow the presentation. Please login early, as some setup is required.
When:
Wednesday, July 25, 1 p.m. (EDT)
Who:
Fay Johnson, supervisory survey statistician, Data Dissemination Branch,
Foreign Trade Division, U.S. Census Bureau
RSVP:
Sign up for webinar.
Conference number: 8309564
Passcode: 1354409

To register for this event:
1. Go to the URL listed above and choose Web RSVP under Join Events.
2. Enter the conference number and passcode.
3. Provide your information for the event leader and then click submit.
4. Registration closes 30 minutes prior to event.

Friday, July 20, 2012

Analysis of 2009 Personal Income Tax Returns

From the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance

This report describes the prominent features of New York's personal income tax, with particular emphasis on the 2009 tax year. It also includes taxpayer profiles consisting of number of taxable returns, sources of income, federal adjustments, New York modifications, deductions, dependent exemptions, tax liability and credits by NYAGI class, filing status and return type. In addition, it includes separate sections on income, itemized deduction amounts, exemptions, available credits and information on refundable credits. Finally, it compares statistics for 2009 with those from the prior year for most of these items.

Accompanying this report are statistical tables that cover resident, part-year resident, and nonresident returns. The report also includes a description and statistical information from returns filed by fiduciaries of estates and trusts.

Thursday, July 19, 2012

2011 Congressional District County Components

From Daily Kos

CDs-by-County: I think you're all going to love this. Thanks to yet more hard work by jeffmd, we now have a new chart for you: congressional districts by county. Click the link and you'll find a tab for each state laying out which counties are in which congressional district. But there's a lot more. Jeff has also figured out how many people in each county (or part thereof) are in a given district (that's column C), what percentage of each CD is made up by each county or county-part (column D), and finally, what percentage of each county is in a given CD (column E). Since counties are an easily understood and frequently used layer of political organization (for example, party endorsements are often made at the county level), this kind of information is very useful, since it lets you see how much sway a particular county has in a particular congressional district.

(I've changed the example from Arizona to New York)
For instance, if you open the New York tab, you'll see that 198,289 residents of Broome County live in NY-22, and those folks in Broome make up almost 28% of the congressional district's total population. But if you look at column E, you'll see that only 98.85% of Broome is place inside the 22nd—that means it's split among more than one district. Scrolling down (or searching on the word "Broome"), you'll see that there's also a teeny-tiny fraction of the county in NY-19 (just 2,311 people).

Wednesday, July 18, 2012

Computer and Internet Use at Home: 2010

These tables provide information about computer and Internet use from the Current Population Survey (CPS) School Enrollment and Internet Use Supplement. The tables display national and state level data and examine householder and individual characteristics by school enrollment, age, race, sex and Hispanic origin. Additional tables use data from the Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP) to examine how and why people connect to the Internet. The CPS has been collecting data on computers and Internet use periodically since 1984. SIPP data on this subject have been collected since 1998.

Tuesday, July 17, 2012

Census Bureau Infographic on U.S. Veteran Population

This month as we celebrate our nation's Independence, we reflect on the original veterans who helped found this country. How do we know about today's heroes? This new infographic provides a statistical snapshot of our veterans from the American Community Survey (conducted annually) and the Survey of Business Owners (from the five-year economic census).

Monday, July 16, 2012

Population Shifts and Implications for Walking in the United States

Article by Peter Tuckel, Hunter College Department of Sociology, and William Milczarski, Hunter College Department of Urban Affairs & Planning, from America Walks

Major population shifts in the United States point to changes in American attitudes and behaviors regarding walking. These shifts are likely to result in a substantial increase in both recreational and utilitarian walking. Three demographic changes, in particular, are likely to promote this “walking revolution:” (1) the aging of the baby boomers, (2) the different transportation priorities of young people, and (3) the decline of the suburbs.

Friday, July 13, 2012

Young adult employment during the recent recession

From the Bureau of Labor Statistics

The recent recession lasted from December 2007 to June 2009 and had different consequences for various demographic groups, with higher job losses affecting African Americans, Hispanics or Latinos, workers with lower levels of education, and younger workers.

Thursday, July 12, 2012

All About the Super Greenies

From JJ Hill:

Lots of folks are spending lots of money on Green products and services these days. Maybe you or someone you know also has a great idea for the next big Green product. But who exactly are these environmentally conscious consumers that are willing to pay big bucks to “Go Green”?

Scarborough Research, a market research firm, has put together a detailed report entitled All About the Super Greenies. The consumers they profile in this report are “those adults who engage in 10 or more green activities, such as recycling, using rechargeable batteries or re-using grocery store bags”, a number Scarborough estimates as 5% of the adult population in the U.S. The report covers income, media preferences, political affiliations, activities, online habits, and more.

If you need to get a better grasp on just who the Green consumer is, this report is a great start. You may also want to start hanging out at local gardening centers; Scarborough says that 68% of Super Greenies participate in gardening. Time to get your hands dirty!

Wednesday, July 11, 2012

What’s better than sex?

From Salon.com:

It often seems that there is no more desired act on earth than sex. But in recent months I’ve started to notice a contrarian phenomenon: surveys that innumerate all the things — Facebook, sleep, bacon – that people prefer over sex. This week brought the latest of just such polls: a joint effort between Match.com and Today.com, which found that one in three singles would give up nookie for their favorite food.

I had to wonder: Why have these sex-devaluing surveys become so popular?

Tuesday, July 10, 2012

Green Technologies & Practices - August 2011

About three-quarters of business establishments reported the use of at least one green technology or practice during August 2011, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported. Green technologies and practices (GTP) are those that lessen the environmental impact of an establishment’s operations. About 854,700 jobs, representing approximately 0.7 percent of total U.S. employment, were held by workers
who spent more than half of their time involved in green technologies and practices in August 2011. Over one-quarter of these GTP jobs were in building and grounds cleaning and maintenance occupations or in installation, maintenance, and repair occupations.

These data are from the Green Technologies and Practices survey, a survey of business establishments designed to collect data on establishments’ use of green technologies and practices and the occupations of workers who spend more than half of their time involved in green technologies and practices.

Monday, July 9, 2012

International Data Base

The International Data Base (IDB) offers a variety of demographic indicators for countries and areas of the world with a population of 5,000 or more. The IDB has provided access to demographic data for over 25 years to governments, academics, other organizations, and the public. It is funded by organizations that sponsor the research of the Census Bureau"s International Programs Center for Demographic and Economic Studies.

Friday, July 6, 2012

World Drug Report 2012

Chapter I of this year’s World Drug Report provides an overview of recent trends and the drug situation in terms of production, trafficking and consumption and the consequences of illicit drug use in terms of treatment, drug-related diseases and drug-related deaths.

Chapter II presents a long-term perspective on the characteristics and evolution of the drug problem and the main factors that shaped it. It starts with a discussion of the main characteristics of the contemporary drug problem, followed by an overview of the shifts observed over the last few decades, before concluding with an analysis of the driving factors that shaped the evolution of the drug problem, including a brief outlook for its likely future direction.

Thursday, July 5, 2012

Population and Housing Unit Counts for New York state

The CPH-2, Population and Housing Unit Counts, report series provides 2010 Census and historical comparisons of the population and housing unit counts. It also provides area measurements and density. The user notes section documents geographic changes over the past decade.

This report includes a table finding guide to assist the user in locating those statistical tables that contain the desired data. The table finding guide lists alphabetically, by geographic area, the subjects shown in this report. To determine which tables in this report show data for a particular topic, find the subject in the
left-hand column of the table finding guide and then look across the columns using the headings at the top for the desired type of geographic area.

See all printed reports for the CPH-2 that have been released to the public.

Wednesday, July 4, 2012

The presentations that were given at the June Steering Committee Meeting of State Data Center Program for the Census Bureau are now available at this website.


Tuesday, July 3, 2012

Annual Energy Outlook 2012

The projections in the U.S. Energy Information Administration's (EIA's) Annual Energy Outlook 2012 (AEO2012) focus on the factors that shape the U.S. energy system over the long term. Under the assumption that current laws and regulations remain unchanged throughout the projections, the AEO2012 Reference case provides the basis for examination and discussion of energy production, consumption, technology, and market trends and the direction they may take in the future. It also serves as a starting point for analysis of potential changes in energy policies. But AEO2012 is not limited to the Reference case. It also includes 29 alternative cases (see Appendix E, Table E1), which explore important areas of uncertainty for markets, technologies, and policies in the U.S. energy economy. Many of the implications of the alternative cases are discussed in the "Issues in focus" section of this report.

Monday, July 2, 2012

American Time Use Survey - 2011 Results

In 2011, 16 percent of the U.S. civilian noninstitutional population age 15 and over were eldercare providers, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. This and other information about eldercare providers and the time they spent providing care were collected for the first time in the 2011 American Time Use Survey (ATUS). This release also includes the average amount of time per day in 2011 that individuals spent in various activities, such as working, household activities, childcare, and leisure and sports activities.

Sunday, July 1, 2012

Federal Law Enforcement Officers, 2008

From the Bureau of Justice Statistics

In September 2008, federal agencies employed approximately 120,000 full-time law enforcement officers who were authorized to make arrests and carry firearms in the United States. This was the equivalent of 40 officers per 100,000 residents. The number of federal officers in the United States increased by about 15,000, or 14%, between 2004 and 2008. Federal agencies also employed nearly 1,600 officers in the U.S. territories in 2008, primarily in Puerto Rico.