Photo by NASA. Aaron R. Williams and Claire McKay Bowen One of our favorite data sources is weekly unemployment insurance (UI) claims from the Department of Labor. The data demonstrate the value of administrative data…
Photo by Stephen Dawson. Barry Johnson In our last post, we discussed the origin and evolution of federal statistics and noted that, as survey response rates have declined and user expectations have evolved, agencies are…
Photo by U.S. Census Bureau. Barry Johnson In previous posts, we’ve raised the point that federal statistics are the essential—though often unrecognized—ingredients that impact all aspects of our lives: from determining whether we need a…
Photo by Markus Spiske. Claire McKay Bowen and Aaron R. Williams The collection of data that fuels everything from advanced research to everyday decision making is, by many measures, underappreciated and insufficiently rewarded. In research,…
Photo by Xi Lipton. Claire McKay Bowen and Aaron R. Williams Government data shape and improve our lives from the moment we wake up until the moment we go to sleep. Here’s a quick look…
Photo by Alexey Demidov Aaron R. Williams and Claire McKay Bowen Deciphering the economy is difficult even under ideal circumstances. “Monetary policy is like driving while looking through the rearview mirror” is a popular expression…
By Claire McKay Bowen and Aaron R. Williams Image from https://unsplash.com/photos/colored-pencil-lined-up-on-top-of-white-surface-l3N9Q27zULw. When we take a bite of cake, we often focus on its presentation, decoration, texture, or flavor. Rarely do we think about the ingredients…
By Claire McKay Bowen and Aaron R. WilliamsImage by Jeremy SeemanBlog is cross posted with Data Rescue Project. Can you answer these questions? If you struggle to answer any of these, you are not alone.…
APDU joined co-signing organizations to ask Congress to restore and protect federally-funded data on agency websites and portals. Over 230 organizations and 2,600 individuals signed onto the letter. On February 11, it was transmitted to Senate…
The U.S. Census Bureau released a proof-of-concept data product and documentation for the 2020 Detailed Demographic and Housing Characteristics File B (DDHC-B). The DDHC-B will provide data on housing tenure and household type for just over 1,500 detailed racial…
Katherine Wallman, the former chief statistician of the United States, passed away on January 17, 2024. She was a prominent figure in the data user community, such as serving as a member of the APDU…
This blog post was provided courtesy of Andrew Foote, Principal Economist with the Longitudinal Employer-Household Dynamics (LEHD) program, part of the Center for Economic Studies at the U.S. Census Bureau. On January 11,…