Google Starts Begins Making Public Data Easier to Access, Visual

Google is adding search power to public data. The new public records search and visualization service (it's in the very early stages of development) went live Tuesday afternoon. Check it out.

Article in the Washington Post
Google's official blog

Economic Impact on Hospitals and their Communities

Six out of ten hospitals nationally are seeing a greater proportion of patients without insurance coming through their emergency departments, according to a new survey from the American Hospital Association (AHA). At the same time, nearly half of hospitals reported they have cut staff. Recent employment information from the Bureau of Labor Statistics confirms that hospital employment is no longer growing and that the number of mass layoffs for hospitals reported in February was more than double what it was a year ago.

Residential Mover Rate in U.S. is Lowest Since Census Bureau Began Tracking in 1948

The U.S. Census Bureau announced that the national mover rate declined from 13.2 percent in 2007 to 11.9 percent in 2008 — the lowest rate since the bureau began tracking these data in 1948.

In 2008, 35.2 million people 1 year and older changed residences in the U.S. within the past year, representing a decrease from 38.7 million in 2007 and the smallest number of residents to move since 1962.

Among those who moved in 2008, 65 percent moved within the same county, 18 percent moved to a different county within the same state, 13 percent moved to a different state, and 3 percent moved to the U.S. from abroad.

Quality of Living global city rankings 2009

The Mercer survey. New York City is #49, the seventh U.S. city on the list.

Swine Flu

Swine Flu information from the US Centers for Disease Control and the NY State Dept of Health

The Web 2.0 Guide to Swine Flu from Salon
Should You Fear Swine Flu? from About.com."No, but a healthy respect is called for."
The last great swine flu epidemic "This virus will kill 1 million Americans," declared the U.S. in 1976. The panic then has a lot to teach us today.

States Launch Stimulus-Tracking Sites

In less than two months, all 50 states have created Web sites that track their use of their share of the federal economic stimulus package, and that link to the federal Recovery.gov site.

However, the state sites are individual efforts and offer a patchwork of data. Some are more effective than others in providing transparency, a government watchdog analyst said.

Census boycott bad for migrants

by Judith Gans
The Arizona Republic (Apr. 21, 2009)

Recently, there have been reports that a large number of immigrants will refuse to participate in the 2010 census, thereby reducing the real population of Arizona. Such a reduction would result in a loss of federal funding tied to size of states, thereby compounding Arizona's fiscal crisis.

This fact again underscores the relationship of the economic issues confronting our state and nation and immigration. Immigrants have a big impact on the economy...

The Econonic Impact of the Non-Profit

Here are a few sources of data about the non-profit:

One primary source is the Economic Census. For 2002, it can be accessed either through a series of PDFs or via American FactFinder. The EC identifies establishments that are "not subject to federal income tax" in several of the service sectors, specifically 54-Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services; 61-Educational Services; 62-Health Care and Social Assistance; 71-Arts, Entertainment, and Recreation; and 81-Other Services (except Public Administration). These reports show the receipts for these establishments at the state, MSA and county level. There is even some place data, but the smaller the geography, the more likely it will be suppressed in order not to reveal confidential information. Also, public schools, colleges and universities, governments, and churches are excluded from the Economic Census. The 2007 data won't be out until late in 2010 and will be available only via American FactFinder.

The NYC Nonprofits Project surveyed nonprofits in the 5 boroughs to estimate their impact in several areas, including the economy. The website is http://www.nycnonprofits.org/, with links to detailed papers and the final report, which came out in 2003.

CGR completed a project in 2006 for Dyson Foundation about the Mid-Hudson Valley. The early comments on methodology will give an idea of how the data were compiled.

CaRDI published a 2007 brief on the topic, specifically for Rockland County.

What's It All About, Economic Census?

For the NYS SBDC, I was asked to explain a bit about the 2007 Economic Census. Some advisors have asked about it. Some media have called Central, so I expected that some media may have or may be calling our field offices as well.

First thing: why aren’t the data all out there yet?

This is because this is actually a census of 2007 economic activity. The form is sent out to businesses in December 2007, to be completed in February 2008. Of course, people don’t always comply, which takes the process out to April 2008. Then the data are compiled and verified.

Preliminary data can now be found here.

As this site indicates, the data are released in stages, with the broad categories addressed first, with the breakdowns by smaller geographies coming later. Also released near the end of the cycle is the Survey of Business Owners, which describes, among other things, minority-, woman- and veteran-owned businesses.

Finally, a couple related concepts to understand that won’t be much of an issue in the early stages of the release but most certainly will when getting down to the county or ZIP Code level. Confidentiality - In accordance with Title 13 [of the United States Code], "no estimates are published that would disclose the operations of an individual firm. The Census Bureau’s internal Disclosure Review Board sets the confidentiality rules for all data releases. A checklist approach is used to ensure that all potential risks to the confidentiality of the data are considered and addressed". Cell suppression – "Withholding data to protect the confidentiality of information reported by individual businesses or persons. Data withheld are replaced with ‘D’s in appropriate data cells."

This means that if there are 10 businesses in a jurisdiction, but one is known to be dominant, the number of businesses will be released but the dollar sales may not be, lest it reveal the approximate sales of the dominant business. (This concept is also used in the Population Census when dealing with, e.g., income of a minority group in a small geography.)

What Is It All About, Census?

The Population Reference Bureau explains: The census offers a “snapshot” of the entire population on a specific date: How many people reside within the national borders, who they are, where they live. Every 10 years since 1790, data from the census have been used to apportion seats in the U.S. House of Representatives, as mandated by the U.S. Constitution. With the next census just one year away, PRB will provide continuing coverage of the 2010 Census, explaining why this census is so different from previous ones, and highlighting the depth and breadth of information the census collects.

The PRB site already has articles already on Census History; the American Community Survey; Apportionment; 2010 Timetable, and 2010 Questionnaire.

Public Citizen Releases Annual Ranking of State Medical Boards

Public Citizen’s annual ranking of state medical boards shows that most states, including two of the largest, are not living up to their obligations to protect patients from doctors who are practicing substandard medicine, according to the report released today.

For the first time since Public Citizen has been publishing the rankings, California, the largest state in the country, and Florida, one of the largest, are among the 10 states with the lowest rates of serious disciplinary actions. Minnesota was the worst state when it came to disciplining doctors and, along with Maryland, South Carolina and Wisconsin, has consistently been among the worst 10 states for each of the last six rankings.

My Two Census

"Run by a team of professional political journalists", MyTwoCensus.com "is the watchdog blog of the 2010 Census!"

From the About section: "One evening, while perusing Craigslist, Stephen Robert Morse, a savvy young political journalist, noticed that the U.S. Census Bureau sought to hire thousands upon thousands of individuals from sea to shining sea to help the federal government complete its decennial count. Despite his age, Morse already learned that if you give people $13 billion to complete a task, they are likely to spend it without caution — both frivolously and haphazardly.

"As they say, one thing led to another, and MyTwoCensus.com was born."

It's glib, informative, occasionally snarky and generally entertaining. My favorite recent link is this Saturday Night Live clip.

USDA Launches New Country Web Pages

From the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Foreign Agricultural Service

In an effort to expand information available to exporters, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) has added country pages to its Web site. Grouped into four regions – Western Hemisphere, Europe, Africa and the Middle East, and Asia and Oceania – these country pages provide essential demographic, economic and political information.

The new country pages will allow users to find comprehensive links, all in one place, on import requirements for each country, as well as travel and market information, the status of trade negotiations, trade development and important contacts.

In addition, the FAS Web site includes many searchable databases providing export, import, production, supply, and distribution data, as well as export sales reports and market reports from U.S. agricultural trade experts stationed in 97 offices around the world.

Stimulus Watch

"StimulusWatch.org was built to help the new administration keep its pledge to invest stimulus money smartly, and to hold public officials to account for the taxpayer money they spend. We do this by allowing you, citizens around the country with local knowledge about the proposed "shovel-ready" projects in your city, to find, discuss and rate those projects. These projects are not part of the stimulus bill. They are candidates for funding by federal grant programs once the bill passes."

On each page are the "shovel-ready" projects the mayors of the states "submitted in the 2008 U.S. Conference of Mayors report. You can click on a project to read (and add to) its description. You can also discuss the project and vote on whether you believe it is critical or not."

Census in Schools

The Census Bureau has posted the 2010 Census in Schools pages on their website. There are some interesting things on it already, including a lesson plan, which will give an idea about what can be expected in the future.

State/Local Sales Tax Weakest in 50 Years

State tax collections for the fourth quarter of 2008 declined by 4 percent from the same quarter a year earlier, according to a new report by the Rockefeller Institute of Government. After adjusting for inflation, combined state and local sales tax revenue declined more in October-December 2008 than in any quarter since 1959. Early figures for state tax revenues in the first quarter of 2009 show an overall decline of more than 12 percent compared to a year earlier, a further dramatic worsening of fiscal conditions nationwide. Read the news release.

Latino Evangelicals Urge Undocumented to Boycott 2010 Census

"NEW YORK – Hispanic evangelical pastors have made a decision to recommend that undocumented immigrants not participate in the 2010 U.S. Census unless Congress passes 'genuine immigration reform.'

"Opponents of such a reform routinely use Census data as 'a tool' to justify 'attacks on undocumented families with strategies of terror and lies that polarize public opinion,' the National Coalition of Latino Clergy & Christian Leaders, or Conlamic, said Monday."

How the boycott solves the problem is presently escaping me. As one pundit noted: "Let the fun begin ----"

Community resource guide

The community resource guide is a guide to NYC community-based data, such as demographics, banking, crime, education, health, and housing programs/building information. It has info such as building code violations and maps of police precincts. Some of the sources are staewide or nationwide and would have broader applicability than just the five boroughs. There's info for the beginner or intended for veteran users.

Learn How to Use OnTheMap at Your Convenience

Find Longitudinal Employer-Household Dynamics (LEHD) at OnTheMap; get training here.

CQ Announces New Map That Shows 2008 Presidential Election Results By Congressional District

Congressional Quarterly Inc. has announced the launch of a new interactive map that shows the results of the 2008 presidential election by congressional district.

What if the 2008 presidential election had been re-run using a district-based system of awarding electoral votes — used only in two states — instead of the winner-take-all method that every other state uses?

The answer is that Barack Obama still would have beaten John McCain, though the Electoral College tally would have been closer than the actual 365-173 margin of victory.

According to a CQ Politics analysis, Obama would have beaten McCain 301-237 using a district-based system, under which a candidate receives two electoral votes for winning a state and one electoral vote for every congressional district he or she wins. Only Maine and Nebraska allocate electoral votes in this fashion.

The analysis found that Obama won 242 districts and McCain won 193 districts. Obama also posted another 59 electoral votes by carrying 28 states and the District of Columbia, which is entitled to three electoral votes under the 23rd Amendment. McCain would have received another 44 electoral votes as a result of winning 22 states.