Recently in Statistics Category

Source: Carl Van Horn, Presentation at Workforce Challenges Conference at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, February 18, 2010

From the speech:
Today, I will:

• Describe the struggles of American businesses and workers as they confront
the harsh realities of today's economy.

• Explain why the upheaval of the U.S. economy did not begin during the
Great Recession of 2008-2010 and why it will not disappear when the
economy recovers later this decade.

• Explain why millions of Americans have been working scared for more than
a decade and with good reason.

• Outline an agenda of common-sense actions to help employees, employers,
educators, and government policymakers respond to/manage current and
future labor markets.
See also:
- Presentation
- The Labor Market, Then and Now: Changing Realities in the 21st Century

Source: Lawrence Mishel, Economic Policy Institute, March 3, 2010

The 400 American households with the highest incomes also have enjoyed a much faster pace of income growth than the vast majority. And, because tax rates applied to their income have fallen by a third, their after-tax incomes grew substantially faster than their pre-tax incomes. The figure looks at inflation-adjusted pre-tax and after-tax income growth for the 400 top-income families between 1992 and 2007, based on new data recently released by the Internal Revenue Service. It shows that while pre-tax income grew by a staggering 409% over that 15-year period, after-tax income increased even more, by 476%.

Source: Catherine Rampell, New York Times Economix Blog, March 1, 2010

State and local government workers are much more likely to get hurt on the job than private sector workers, according to a new report from the Labor Department.

Among workers in the private sector, there were 113 nonfatal occupational injuries and illnesses per 10,000 full-time workers in 2008. In state and local government, the incidence rate was 170 cases and 195 cases per 10,000 employees, respectively.

Source: National Association of Public Hospitals and Health Systems, Policy Brief, February 2010

Since the beginning of the economic recession, safety net health systems have treated more patients overall, including 23 percent more uninsured patients. These health systems have also
provided 10 percent more uncompensated care to low-income populations.This research brief explores how safety net organizations remain critical to the nation's health care system.

Source: White House Press Office, Press release, February 17, 2010

One year in, the Recovery Act is at work across the country creating jobs and driving economic growth. From major highway projects to green retrofits of military facilities and manufacturing of advanced batteries, more than 55,000 projects across the country have now been funded through the Recovery Act. To get an up close look at some of those projects, click here. This is in addition to the nearly $120 billion in tax relief already provided to American families and businesses - with more to come this year - and the billions of dollars in relief provided to shore up state and local government programs like Medicaid and education facing severe budget shortfalls. To see a video of how the Recovery Act is helping cities across the country click here.

This is what it looks like, by the numbers....

Source: Olga Pierce and Jeff Larson, ProPublica, 2010

The unemployment insurance system is in crisis due to a combination skyrocketing unemployment and - in some cases - poor planning. A record 20 million Americans collected unemployment benefits last year, and twenty-six states have run out of funds and been forced to borrow from the federal government, raise taxes, or cut benefits. In many other states the situation is deteriorating fast. Using near real-time data on state revenues and the benefits they pay out, we estimate how long state trust funds will hold up. Click on a state to find the latest, plus historical data, and details on tax increases and benefit cuts. Updated weekly.

Source: Center for State and Local Government Excellence, January 2010

From the summary:
Hiring freezes, pay freezes, layoffs, and furloughs top the list of ways that local and state governments are cutting costs, according to a Center for Excellence online survey of government managers.

States and local governments also have made significant changes in their benefit offerings.

Source: American City and County, February 18, 2010

Through the end of 2009, investments by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) in public transportation have created almost twice as many jobs per dollar as investments in highways, according to an analysis of federal data by Washington-based Smart Growth America (SGA) and other groups. The most recent data from states shows that every billion dollars spent on public transportation produced 19,299 job-months, compared to 10,493 job-months for every billion spent on highway infrastructure, according to the analysis.

Source: Paraprofessional Healthcare Institute, February 18, 2010

FACTS 1 (Occupational Projections for Direct-Care Workers 2008-2018) - presents the latest occupational employment projections from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) for the three official job titles that make up the direct-care workforce: nursing assistants, home health aides, and personal and home care aides. These projections continue to suggest that, over the next decade, the nation's direct-care workforce will constitute the largest, fastest-growing group of jobs in the country.

FACTS 3 (Who Are Direct-Care Workers?) provides a detailed overview of the current demographic and economic characteristics of the direct-care workforce. PHI experts compiled FACTS 3 from several sources, but the fact sheet particularly highlights data on direct-care workers available in the March 2009 Supplement of the Current Population Survey.

New in this year's update are state-by-state employment figures for direct-care workers, and also a one-page insert called "The Direct-Care Worker at a Glance, 2008".
See also:
Chart Gallery

Source: John Schmitt, Center for Economic and Policy Research, February 2010

From the summary:
This report reviews unionization rates, the size and composition of the unionized workforce, and the wage and benefit advantage for union workers in each of the fifty states and the District of Columbia, using the most recent data available and focusing on the period 2003-2009. Pooling data from the monthly Current Population Survey (CPS) over that period yields a sample size large enough to look at the experience of even the smallest states.