How to dig into newly released U.S. economic data
Photo by Ellie Van Houtte
If you’re caught up with year-end fiscal roundups and have had your fill of holiday features, set aside some time to delve into resources that can lay the groundwork for economic enterprise in 2010.
It’s hard to go wrong with a story about wages and income – audience love reading about other people’s paychecks.
So one just-out database you should play around with was just refreshed last week by the U.S. Commerce Department’s Bureau of Economic Analysis. Here’s the summary press release for the new County Compensation by Industry statistics updated on Dec. 21. The figures aren’t as fresh as we might wish – they compare 2008 to 2007 – but still can give texture to recession stories, work-life and career packages and regional economic reviews.
The release includes an interesting breakdown of small, medium and large county statistics, with quirky factoids. Oddly, the mining sector showed the largest compensation growth in all sizes of counties; that’s a story premise right there. Who’s digging up what and getting paid to do so?
Not surprisingly, hard-hit sectors like real estate and durable manufacturing showed the most contraction from 2007 to 2008.
The full release and tables, in PDF format, are a gold mine of interesting info, as well, particularly on very large counties.
But don’t just stop there. Click on the BEA’s Local Area Personal Income channel for a plethora of regional data and tables you can tailor to your territory.
See the menu of options including data sets like “compensation by industry” and “personal income and employment by industry.” Click on the desired set, then follow the instructions to narrow the search to your specific state and county. Select a couple of years (hold down the shift key to highlight multiple years) and hit “Display.” Voila, you’ve got a comparative table showing gains and losses by industry or whatever criteria you chose, year over year.
If this is daunting, though it probably won’t be, look to the right side of the BEA screen for contact information. I’ve always found their media relations and technical staff to be accessible, patient and helpful.
Be sure to scroll to the bottom of the Local Area Personal Income screen for additional interesting links – one of which ranks all of the nation’s 3,112 counties by per-capita personal income. While this data will be refreshed in the spring, it’s still eye-catching. Contrary to what you might thing, Teton, Wyoming is No. 1, with 2007 per-capita income of $132,728 – while little Loup, Neb. comes in last at $8,579.
