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Shutdown Clogs Government’s Biz Data Pipeline
The federal government shutdown is drying up a river of data that U.S. agencies put out daily on everything from job growth to divorce rates. It’s likely to affect stock markets and even business hiring and investment, especially if it drags on more than a week or two, economists and industry officials say. Some websites, including those of the Census Bureau and Commerce Department, are closed down completely, cutting off even existing and historical information from policymakers and think tanks. The most significant report that’s expected to be delayed is the Labor Department’s closely watched survey on U.S. employment in September, due out Friday. Read more here.
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Some Economic Data Face Budget Ax: Federal Agencies Move to Cut Scope of Reports Amid Budget Squeeze
Across-the-board spending cuts (“the sequester”) could soon claim a host of economic data points that many local policy makers and investors rely upon. The nation’s statistical agencies are preparing to downsize economic reports tracking local economies and foreign investment in the U.S., as part of a new wave of budget cuts that is forcing the agencies to re-evaluate how they allocate resources in order to maintain the most prominent economic data. The changes, set for the fiscal year that starts in October, would come on top of other cuts this year by the Commerce and Labor departments, unless Congress votes to lift the sequester. Under current law, federal agencies must maintain budget cuts they already made and then implement a fresh round of reductions in the coming fiscal year. Read more here.
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Beta Version of the BLS Data API is Available
The BLS Public Data Application Programming Interface (API) is an application designed to allow third party programmers, developers, and organizations to retrieve published historical time series data in JSON data-interchange format. Using Public Data API signatures, users can consume and manipulate raw data from all of the Bureau’s surveys to create a wide range of applications that conform to W3C standards and accepted practices. The BLS Public Data API does not require registration and is open for public use. Sample code is provided for developers and programmers for the most popular languages currently available. Feedback is encouraged and will aid in further enhancement and development of the Bureau’s Public Data API. Read more here.
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Join the New Online Community for ACS Data Users
The ACS Data Users Group is pleased to announce the availability of a new website, where you can find information about the ACS Data Users Group, upcoming events, and a new online community for ACS data users. They invite all interested ACS data users to join the online community, where you can share messages, materials, and announcements related to ACS data and methods. Read more here.
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National Science Board Releases STEM Education Data and Trends Tool
The National Science Board (NSB) released the STEM Education Data and Trends tool, a rich resource for anyone searching for answers to those and many other questions. The online statistical tool provides key information on the current state of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) in the United States through an easy-to-use interface. Organized as a “timeline” spanning prekindergarten through employment, the tool provides useful insights for all with a stake in STEM education: parents, students, guidance counselors, teachers, policymakers, and others. The tool has been updated with the most recent federal government data, drawing on the latest edition of the NSB’s biennial Science and Engineering Indicators report. Read more here.
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What HMDA Data Say About the State of the Mortgage Market
Autumn brings crisper nights, apple cider, and the annual release of the prior year’s Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) data. HMDA requires the vast majority of home mortgage lenders to disclose critical information about each loan application, such as whether the loan was approved or denied, and information about the loans and applicants—including the race, gender, and income of the borrower and the mortgage’s location. While regulatory use of HMDA focuses heavily on each lender’s service to its community (for banks, performance under the Community Reinvestment Act or CRA; for all lenders, concerns about discrimination), HMDA’s vast dataset—2012’s included 9.8 million loans reported by 7,400 lenders— provides important insight into the state of the mortgage market. Read more here.
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O*NET Lay Titles Database Updated
The O*NET Lay Titles database contains over 44,000 distinct titles. Using information gathered from the O*NET Data Collection and additional research efforts, this update adds over 280 new titles. A variety of private and publicly developed electronic tools, including the Department of Labor’s O*NET OnLine and My Next Move, use the titles to improve their keyword search performance and to enhance their career reports. Read more here.
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Census 2020 Planning Resources – Help!
Census Project Co-director Terri Ann Lowenthal has written a new blog post on the project’s website. She notes the urgency and need of additional resources for the “ramp up” for Census 2020 planning. Read more here.
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How Much Financial Disclosure is Enough?
Depending on who you talk to, researching any government’s financials is either a user-friendly experience accomplished with a few clicks of the mouse, or it’s an Odyssey marked by dead ends, broken links or fruitless Google searches. And both of these would be right. That’s the problem, some say, with transparency in local and state government finance: a lack of standardization or more up-to-date releases make it difficult for bond investors to know precisely what they’re buying. Read more here.
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2013 CES Preliminary Benchmark Revision
Each year, the Current Employment Statistics (CES) survey estimates are benchmarked to comprehensive counts of employment from the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW) for the month of March. These counts are derived from state unemployment insurance (UI) tax records that nearly all employers are required to file. On September 26, 2013, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) released the preliminary estimate of the upcoming annual benchmark revision to the establishment survey employment series. Preliminary benchmark revisions for all major industry sectors, as well as Total nonfarm and Total private levels, are available on the BLS website at CES Prelminary Benchmark Revision. The final benchmark revision will be issued in February 2014, with the publication of the January 2014 Employment Situation news release.
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NLSY97 Round 15 Data Released
Round 15 data for the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 (NLSY97) have been released. Users now can access NLSY97 public use data and event-history data for rounds 1 through 15. The NLSY97 cohort is made up of 8,984 respondents. In the most recent round, 7,423 people (82.6 percent of the cohort) were interviewed from September 2011 to June 2012. In the round 15 interview, respondents ranged in age from 26 to 32. This issue discusses the new questions in round 15, what was not included and when the confidential data will be released. Read more here.
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Notable Data Publications
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Each week, the APDU Data Update identifies recent statistical data releases of interest to APDU members.
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Did you work on a great report that you want your colleagues to know about? Just email us and we’ll include it here.
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APDU maintains a list of open calls for comment on proposed federal data collections. We periodically alert APDU members to newly added calls for comment. Over the last several weeks, calls for comment on the following proposed data collections were published in the Federal Register (with due date):
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