AFSCME Information Highway

Source: Leslie I. Boden, and Al Ozonoff, Annals of Epidemiology, Volume 18, Issue 6, June 2008
(subscription required)

From the abstract:
We examine reporting of nonfatal injury and illness reporting for the two most important sources of such data in the United States: workers' compensation data and the Bureau of Labor Statistics' (BLS) annual Survey of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses.

We linked individual case records from establishments reporting to the BLS with individual cases reported to workers' compensation systems in six states for 1998-2002 and used capture-recapture analysis to estimate the proportion of injuries reported. Data are for private sector workers and exclude mining, railroad and water transportation, temporary employment agencies, membership organizations, and small agricultural establishments.

For injuries and illnesses eligible for income benefits, using conservative assumptions, we estimate that workers' compensation systems in the six states missed over 180,000 lost-time injuries in the sampled industries, that the BLS survey missed almost 340,000, and that about 69,000 injuries were unreported to either system.

Underreporting of nonfatal occupational injury and illness is substantial in both systems, but particularly in the Survey of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses. Using both sources improves coverage but falls far short of an accurate count for four of the six states. Reporting rates vary widely, so we cannot infer them for the entire United States.

Posted by Info Center at 3:05 PM in Health & Safety | Statistics | Permalink

Source: Annie E. Casey Foundation, June 2008

Data from the Annie E. Casey Foundation's 2008 KIDS COUNT Data Book are now available in our easy-to-use, powerful online database, the KIDS COUNT Data Center, which allows you to generate custom graphs, maps, ranked lists, and state-by-state profiles; or, download the entire data set as delimited text files. The pull-down menus to the left also allow you to read the book online or view the book in PDF format.

From the press release:
National trends in child well-being taken together have improved slightly since 2000, according to a report released today by the Annie E. Casey Foundation. The 2008 Data Book also presents a clear path to reducing the number of children and youth in America's justice system. The 19th annual KIDS COUNT Data Book indicators show:
• Five areas of improvement: child death rate, teen death rate, teen birth rate, high school dropout rate, and teens not in school and not working;
• One area had no change: infant mortality rate; and
• Four areas have worsened: low-birthweight babies, children living in families where no parent has full time year round employment, children in poverty, and children in single parent families.

These national trends are not on par with the well-being improvements that were seen at the end of the 1990s, with little change since 2000. The report cites that more children are living in relative poverty in the United States than in any other economically advanced nation.

Posted by Info Center at 6:02 PM in Children | Statistics | Permalink

Source: William J. Sabol and Todd D. Minton, Bureau of Justice Statistics Bulletin, NCJ 221945, June 2008

On June 29, 2007, the number of inmates held in local jails reached 780,581, an increase of 1.9% (or 14,571 inmates) since June 30, 2006 (figure 1). Between 2000 and 2007 the percent number of inmates confined in the nation's jails increased change at an average annual rate of 3.3%. With the exception of 2005, the rate of growth in the jail inmate population has declined every year since 2002. Growth slowed from 2.5% in 2006 to 1.9% in 2007. The rate of growth in the 12 months ending June 29, 2007 was the smallest annual growth rate in the jail population since 2001 and the second smallest since 1981.
See also:
Prison Inmates at Midyear 2007
Probation and Parole in the United States, 2006

Posted by Info Center at 3:38 PM in Corrections | Statistics | Permalink

Source: Andrew Sum and Paulo Tobar with Joseph McLaughlin and Sheila Palma
Challenge, May-June 2008

In case you wondered whether workers in securities firms and investment bankers have fared better than the rest of American workers, the answer is, resoundingly, "Yes." Andrew Sum and his colleagues here present the most comprehensive evidence so far. It is eye-opening.

Typical full-time wage and salary workers in the United States achieved no increase in their weekly earnings over the 2002-2007 period. They gained no economic ground despite rising labor productivity and increasing aggregate employment opportunities over most of this five-year period. Second, the mean weekly earnings of the nation's production or nonsupervisory workers rose by only $6 over this five-year period, barely enough to buy a premium six-pack of beer in most states or a grande latte and a scone at Starbucks.

The mean weekly earnings of workers in the nation's investment banking and securities industries rose by $2,408 between the first quarters of 2002 and 2007, four hundred times higher than the mean weekly earnings gains of the nation's 110 million frontline workers. The mean weekly earnings (including bonuses) of wage and salary workers in the investment banking and securities industries of Manhattan rose by $8,028 over the 2002 I-2007 I period. This mean weekly wage gain for Wall Street workers was 134 times higher than the mean weekly wage gain for all U.S. wage and salary workers, including executives, and 1,338 times higher than the mean weekly wage gain for all frontline workers in U.S. industries over this five-year period.

Posted by William at 9:05 AM in Compensation | Statistics | Permalink

Source: National Center for Education Statistics

This website is an integrated collection of the indicators and analyses published in The Condition of Education 2000-2008. Some indicators may have been updated since they appeared in print.

Posted by William at 2:02 PM in Education | Statistics | Permalink

Source: Tamara Draut, Dēmos, Spring 2008

From the press release:
Today's young adults are feeling the impact of a massive shift in the U.S. economy--changes that are documented in a new data report from Demos and an analysis of public opinion polling by The Center for American Progress.

The Demos report, "The Economic State of Young America," is a comprehensive databook offering proof that a combination of declining incomes, growing debt, and high costs of education, homeownership and healthcare are conspiring to make this generation the first to not surpass the living standards of their parents.
Related:
The Progressive Generation: How Young Adults Think About the Economy
Center for American Progress

Posted by Info Center at 2:04 PM in Compensation | Economy | Income Inequality/Gap | Labor Unions | Middle Class | Statistics | Workforce | Permalink

Source: House Ways and Means Committee, Press release, May 5, 2008

Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charles B. Rangel (D-NY), today announced the release of the 2008 edition of Background Material and Data on the Programs within the Jurisdiction of the Committee on Ways and Means, informally known as the Green Book. The Green Book provides updated data and information on programs within the Committee's jurisdiction, such as Medicare, Social Security, Unemployment Compensation, Foster Care and welfare. Additionally, it includes a discussion of related issues, such as the well-being of the elderly and of children and families. Since its first publication in 1981, the Green Book has become a valued reference guide for legislators, administrators, researchers and interested citizens. Upon completion, individual chapters of this volume will be accessible on the Committee's website.

Posted by Info Center at 12:37 PM in Children | Older People | Social Security | Social Services | Statistics | Permalink

Source: Office of Personnel Management, March 2008

This paper discusses Federal retirement statistics in order to gain a better understanding of the future makeup of the Federal workforce. A significant number of employees are eligible or will become eligible to retire in the near future, making a deeper analysis of the retirement of Federal civilians more timely and meaningful. The findings will hopefully provide valuable insight into workforce planning as the workforce ages and the needs of the Federal Government continue to evolve.

Included among the findings is the median number of years an employee stays with the Government after first becoming eligible to retire is four years. Nearly 25 percent remain for nine or more years.

Posted by Info Center at 12:33 PM in Retirement | Statistics | Workforce | Permalink

Source: David Baer, AARP Public Policy Institute, Research Report, Pub ID: D19014, April 2008

From the summary:
As state and local economic conditions and demographic patterns change, policymakers may consider adjusting their policies on taxes and spending programs. These adjustments become more difficult when economic and demographic changes depart from historical trends.

Policymakers, public officials, policy analysts and others concerned about such issues will find useful state-level data on population, poverty rates, per capita state personal income, state and local revenues, expenditures, tax rates, and property tax relief programs in this seventh edition of the AARP Public Policy Institute's biennial databook by David Baer. Since 1993, the reference book has been contributing to more informed public policy decisions by providing economic, demographic, and fiscal information.

The handbook facilitates state-by-state and state-national comparisons, featuring economic, demographic, and fiscal summaries of the entire United States, each state, the District of Columbia, the Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico. Gender and age comparisons are provided for some of the data. Tables and maps of selected data are included.

Posted by Info Center at 2:18 PM in Economy | Poverty | Statistics | Taxation | Permalink

Source: Laura Wheaton, Jamyang Tashi, Urban Institute, April 24, 2008

From the abstract:
In 2004, 36.6 million people--or 12.6 percent of the U.S. population--were poor. The "poverty gap"--the amount of additional income required to remove all Americans from poverty--was $105.6 billion. Poverty rates were highest for African Americans, Hispanics, women, and persons under 25. Without government benefits, 61 million people would be poor. Social Security and other social insurance programs remove 21 million people from poverty. Means tested programs remove 3 million people from poverty. If food and housing assistance were counted as income for poverty purposes, an additional 7.6 million people would be counted as not poor.

Posted by Info Center at 3:47 PM in Poverty | Statistics | Permalink

Source: National Center for Education Statistics

The 43rd in a series of publications initiated in 1962, the Digest's primary purpose is to provide a compilation of statistical information covering the broad field of American education from prekindergarten through graduate school. The Digest contains data on a variety of topics, including the number of schools and colleges, teachers, enrollments, and graduates, in addition to educational attainment, finances, and federal funds for education, libraries, and international comparisons.

Source: NCES

Posted by Info Center at 9:25 AM in Education | Statistics | Permalink

Source: Equal Employment Opportunity Commission [EEOC]

As part of its mandate under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission requires periodic reports from public and private employers, and unions and labor organizations which indicate the composition of their work forces by sex and by race/ethnic category. Key among these reports is the EEO-1, which is collected annually from Private employers with 100 or more employees or federal contractors with 50 more employees. In 2006, nearly 50,000 employers with more than 55 million employees filed EEO-1 reports.

The confidentiality provision which governs release of these data (Section 709 (e) of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended by the Equal Employment Opportunity Act of 1972) prohibits release of individually identifiable information. However, data in aggregated format for major geographic areas and by industry group for private employers (EEO-1) are available. The tables are national aggregations by those industries with the greatest employment.

SIC Industry definitions and codes used in the tables from 1998 through 2002 are based upon those given in the 1987 Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) Manual. NAICS Industry definitions and codes used in the 2003 through 2006 tables are based upon those given in the 1997 North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) Manual. Starting with year 2006, Metropolitan Statistical Areas are based on the CBSA (Core Based Statistical Area) as defined by the Office of Management and Budget of December 2005.

Due to the unique racial and ethnic composition of the population of Hawaii, employment data for establishments in that state have been excluded from all aggregates of EEO-1 data.

Job Patterns For Minorities And Women In Private Industry 2006 (EEO-1) [14 March 2008]

2006 TABLES

Posted by Info Center at 9:08 AM in Statistics | Permalink

Source: U.S. Census Bureau

From the news release:
St. Bernard and Orleans, two Louisiana parishes hit hard by Hurricane Katrina in 2005, were the nation's fastest-growing counties in 2007, according to population estimates released today by the U.S. Census Bureau.

Top 10 Counties in Population Growth

St. Bernard -- the nation's fastest-losing county from 2005 to 2006 -- experienced a 42.9 percent population increase between July 1, 2006, and July 1, 2007, upping its population by almost 6,000. Orleans' population rose by 13.8 percent, or nearly 29,000.

According to the estimates, all but one of the nation's 10 fastest-growing counties were located in the South or West, with Pinal, Ariz. (near Phoenix) ranking third at 11.5 percent; Kendall, Ill. (in the Chicago area) fourth at 10.6 percent; Rockwall, Texas (in the Dallas area) fifth at 8.2 percent; Flagler, Fla. (between Daytona Beach and Jacksonville) sixth at 7.2 percent; and Union, N.C. (near Charlotte) seventh at 7.2 percent. Rounding out the list were three Georgia counties: Forsyth (7.2 percent), Paulding (6.7 percent) and Jackson (6.7 percent). Forsyth and Paulding are in the Atlanta metro area, with Jackson bordering on Athens-Clarke County.

Maricopa County, Ariz., home of Phoenix, was the top numerical gainer, increasing by 102,000 people between 2006 and 2007. Among the 10 counties that added the largest number of residents between 2006 and 2007, half were in Texas (Harris, Tarrant, Bexar, Collin and Travis), two in North Carolina (Wake and Mecklenburg), and one each in California (Riverside) and Nevada (Clark).

Los Angeles, Calif., remained the most populous county, with a July 1, 2007, population of 9.9 million, a decline of 2,000 residents from 2006.

Posted by Info Center at 9:02 AM in Statistics | Permalink

Source: Administration on Aging, Snapshots, 2008

Statistics: A Statistical Profile of Older Americans Aged 65+

▪ Older men were much more likely to be married than older women-72% of men, 42% of women in 2006. 43% of all older women in 2006 were widows.
▪ About 30 percent (10.7 million) noninstitutionalized older persons live alone (7.8 million women, 2.9 million men).
▪ Half of older women age 75+ live alone.

A Statistical Profile Of Black Older Americans Aged 65+

▪ The Black or African American older population was 3.1 million in 2006 and is projected to grow to over 10.4 million by 2050. In 2006, African American persons made up 8.3 percent of the older population.
▪ By 2050, the percentage of the older population that is African American is projected to account for 12 percent of the older population.

A Statistical Profile of Hispanic Older Americans Aged 65+

▪ The Hispanic older population was 2.4 million in 2006 and is projected to grow to over 15 million by 2050. In 2006, Hispanic persons made up 6.4 percent of the older population.
▪ By 2050, the percentage of the older population that is Hispanic is projected to account for 17.5 percent of the older population.
▪ By 2028, the Hispanic population aged 65 and older is projected to be the largest racial/ethnic minority in this age group.

Posted by Info Center at 4:59 PM in Older People | Statistics | Permalink

Source: Congressional Budget Office, February 24, 2008

PDF of PowerPoint slides -- Presentation to the National Governors Association's Health and Human Services Committee

Posted by Info Center at 3:13 PM in Health Care | Statistics | Permalink

Source: U.S. Census, 2008

A look at the population, selected characteristics and 2004 voting percentage of each state as it approaches its 2008 primary or caucus.
● Census Bureau Releases State Estimates of Voting-Age Population
● Elections (The 2008 Statistical Abstract)
● Fact For Features: The 2008 Presidential Election
● State Factsheets

Posted by Info Center at 11:11 AM in Elections | Statistics | Permalink

Source: Department of Health and Human Services, January 23, 2008

There are two slightly different versions of the federal poverty measure:
• The poverty thresholds, and
• The poverty guidelines.
The poverty thresholds are the original version of the federal poverty measure. They are updated each year by the Census Bureau (although they were originally developed by Mollie Orshansky of the Social Security Administration). The thresholds are used mainly for statistical purposes -- for instance, preparing estimates of the number of Americans in poverty each year. (In other words, all official poverty population figures are calculated using the poverty thresholds, not the guidelines.) Poverty thresholds since 1980 and weighted average poverty thresholds since 1959 are available on the Census Bureau's Web site. For an example of how the Census Bureau applies the thresholds to a family's income to determine its poverty status, see "How the Census Bureau Measures Poverty" on the Census Bureau's web site.
• Federal Register Notice with 2008 Guidelines - Full Text
• Prior Poverty Guidelines and Federal Register References Since 1982
• Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
• Further Resources on Poverty Measurement, Poverty Lines, and Their History
• Computations for the 2008 Poverty Guidelines

Posted by Info Center at 2:04 PM in Poverty | Statistics | Permalink

Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics, USDL 08-0092, January 25, 2008

• Workers in the public sector had a union membership rate nearly five times that of private sector employees.
• Education, training, and library occupations had the highest unionization rate among all occupations, at 37.2 percent, followed closely by protective service occupations at 35.2 percent.
• Among demographic groups, the union membership rate was highest for black men and lowest for Hispanic women.
• Wage and salary workers ages 45 to 54 (15.7 percent) and ages 55 to 64 (16.1 percent) were more likely to be union members than were workers ages 16 to 24 (4.8 percent).

Posted by Info Center at 5:31 PM in Labor Unions | Statistics | Permalink

Source: Claudia J. Coulton, Urban Institute, January 30, 2008

The data used to craft neighborhood indicators often come from the records of administrative agencies. These are particularly useful for community indicators because they are timelier or can be applied to smaller areas than government surveys. This monograph describes 42 of these data sources. It begins with a brief section on recent developments in neighborhood indicators work, followed by a discussion of some of the challenges of using administrative records data for these purposes. The main body of the monograph is a catalog that describes the sources and gives examples of the types of indicators that can be constructed from each.

Posted by Info Center at 10:39 AM in Statistics | Permalink

Source: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service

State fact sheets provide information on population, employment, income, farm characteristics, farm financial indicators, and top commodities, exports, and counties for each state in the United States.

Data last updated on January 11, 2008.

Posted by Info Center at 10:01 AM in Statistics | Permalink

Source: The Brookings Institution

Using data from the 1990 and 2000 Census of Population, an analysis of workers and jobs in the central cities and lower- and higher-income suburbs of the largest 150 metropolitan areas indicates that:
• Roughly 65 percent of all residents and nearly 60 percent of all jobs are now located in the suburbs, with over a third of each in the higher-income suburbs. More individuals now live in the higher-income suburbs than in the central cities, and nearly as many jobs are in the higher-income suburbs as well.
• Population grew strongly during the 1990s in the lower-income suburbs, while job growth was particularly strong in the higher-income suburbs. Residential populations grew by 36 percent in lower-income suburbs, compared to just 24 percent in the central cities and 16 percent in the higher-income suburbs; while employment growth was more rapid (at 26 percent) in the higher-income suburbs, than in the central cities and lower-income suburbs (18 percent each).
• Population growth in the lower-income suburbs for blacks and Latinos has been especially dramatic, while their employment growth in these areas lags behind. Population growth in the lower-income suburbs is also especially pronounced for less-educated groups. But job growth lags behind population growth in the lower-income suburbs and exceeds it in the higher-income suburbs for all educational groups.
• Most groups of residents in the lower-income suburbs must now commute out for work, especially to the higher-income suburbs. Major changes in commute patterns over the 1990s were observed among Latinos (and, to a lesser extent, high school dropouts), with the sharpest increases in commutes towards the higher-income suburbs occurring among members of these groups who live in the central cities and lower-income suburbs.
• The accessibility of residents of lower-income suburbs to jobs in higher-income areas appears to vary greatly across metropolitan areas. Lower-income suburbs are largely contiguous to higher-income suburbs in some metropolitan areas (such as Baltimore and Boston) while they are mostly concentrated on different sides of the central cities in other areas (such as Atlanta, Chicago, and Denver).

Full Document (PDF; 860 KB)

Posted by Info Center at 8:56 AM in Statistics | Permalink

Source: National Center for Education Statistics

This edition of Projections of Education Statistics provides projections for key education statistics, including enrollment, graduates, teachers, and expenditures in elementary and secondary schools. Included are national data on enrollment and graduates for the past 15 years and projections to the year 2016, as well as state-level data on enrollment in public elementary and secondary schools and public high school graduates to the year 2016.

Direct to PDF and Other Formats

Posted by Info Center at 11:53 AM in Statistics | Permalink

Source: U.S. Census Bureau

As our nation prepares to ring in the new year, the U.S. Census Bureau today projected the Jan. 1, 2008, population will be 303,146,284 -- up 2,842,103 or 0.9 percent from New Year's Day 2007.

In January, the United States is expected to register one birth every eight seconds and one death every 11 seconds.

Nevada Once Again Fastest-Growing State; Louisiana Rebounds

From the report:
Nevada returned to the top as the nation's fastest-growing state, with a population increase of 2.9 percent between July 1, 2006, and July 1, 2007, according to estimates released today by the U.S. Census Bureau.
Arizona, fastest-growing between 2005 and 2006, slipped to second place.

Meanwhile, Louisiana began to rebound from its post-Hurricane Katrina population loss, gaining nearly 50,000 people from July 1, 2006, to July 1, 2007, for a total population of 4.3 million. The state lost 250,000 residents during the previous one-year period. Texas gained more people than any other state: Its 2006-2007 increase of almost 500,000 was ahead of runner-up California, which added slightly more than 300,000. California remains the most populous state with about 37 million people.

The Census Bureau also released a population estimate for Puerto Rico, which was 3.9 million on July 1, 2007.

Population Estimate Tables

Posted by Info Center at 11:46 AM in Statistics | Permalink

Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics

From the news release:
The 2008-09 editions of the Occupational Outlook Handbook and the Career Guide to Industries were issued today by the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor on the Bureau's Internet site. The Handbook and the Career Guide can be accessed on the Internet at http://www.bls.gov/oco and http://www.bls.gov/oco/cg, respectively. Print versions of both publications are expected to be available by Spring 2008.

The Occupational Outlook Handbook has been a nationally recognized source of career information since the late 1940s. The Career Guide to Industries was developed as a companion publication to the Handbook in the early 1990s. These publications provide comprehensive, up-to-date, and reliable labor market information that has helped millions of Americans plan their future work lives. The Handbook and the Career Guide discuss prospective changes in the job market and the qualifications sought by employers, information that is widely used by counselors, students, job seekers, education and training officials, and researchers.

Posted by Info Center at 11:39 AM in Statistics | Permalink

Source: Bureau of Economic Analysis

From news release:
U.S. personal income growth accelerated to 1.4 percent in the third quarter of 2007 from 0.9 percent in the second quarter. The acceleration returns the personal income growth rate close to its average for the last two years after a strong first quarter and weaker second quarter. (The growth rate swings in 2007 are a consequence of bonuses paid in the finance industry in the first quarter.) State personal income growth rates in the third quarter ranged from 0.8 percent to 3.6 percent, with growth accelerating or holding steady in all but 11 states.

Full release and tables (PDF; 862 KB)

Posted by Info Center at 11:28 AM in Statistics | Permalink

Source: The Brookings Institution

Analysis of the new Census Bureau annual estimates of state population changes for 2006-7 shows that the sinking housing market has yanked back high-flying states like Nevada and Arizona. An even bigger tug in growth occurred in Florida, another housing-boom driven state. With credit harder to get and the disappearance of housing deals, the allure of these states appears to have dimmed.

Meanwhile, the up-scale states--California, New York, New Jersey, and Massachusetts--are seeing fewer residents leave for a lower cost of living elsewhere. And those states benefiting from the previous flight to affordability--Nevada and Arizona in the west; Florida in the south; and Pennsylvania and New Hampshire in the east--have shown slower migration gains or greater declines.

Even the states surrounding Washington, D.C., another hot market, have attracted fewer migrants. Potential home buyers in the outer suburbs of Virginia and Maryland face trouble getting credit and recent buyers in the District and inner suburbs are stuck because they cannot sell.

The D.C. region has, in short, become a microcosm of the nation's reaction to the housing bust. Like in Nevada and Arizona, the market for the region's suburban buyers is drying up due to the credit crunch, and construction and in-migration is stalling. But the District and inner suburbs are more like coastal California, where housing-rich residents are waiting to sell in order to move to opportunities elsewhere.

Migration Statistics (PDF; 20 KB)

Posted by Info Center at 11:22 AM in Statistics | Permalink

Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics

From Summary:
Over the 2006-16 decade, total employment is projected to increase by 15.6 million jobs, or 10 percent, slightly less than the 15.9 million jobs, or 12 percent, during the 1996-2006 decade. The labor force filling these jobs, while becoming more racially and ethnically diverse, is projected to grow more slowly than in the past. This slowdown in the growth of the labor force is expected, in part, because of the aging and retiring of baby boomers. As a result, the need to replace workers who retire or leave the labor force for other reasons-called replacement needs-is projected to create a significant number of additional job openings

Full report

Posted by Info Center at 10:56 AM in Statistics | Permalink

Source: Health, United States, 2007 Edition

From the summary/news release:
Nearly one in five U.S. adults - more than 40 million people - report they do not have adequate access to the health care they need, according to the annual report on the nation's health released today by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The report, "Health, United States, 2007," is a compilation of more than 150 health tables prepared by CDC's National Center for Health Statistics. The report also contains a special section focusing on access to care, which shows that nearly 20 percent of adults reported that they needed and did not receive one or more of these services in the past year - medical care, prescription medicines, mental health care, dental care, or eyeglasses - because they could not afford them.

Posted by Info Center at 10:43 AM in Health Care | Statistics | Permalink

Source: Internal Revenue Service

From press release:
The Internal Revenue Service today released the fall 2007 issue of the Statistics of Income Bulletin, featuring data from 134.4 million individual income tax returns filed for tax year 2005.

U.S. taxpayers reported $7.4 trillion of adjusted gross income less deficit in tax year 2005, up 9.3 percent from tax year 2004 when 132.2 million returns were filed.

Certain types of income posted strong gains between 2004 and 2005. Net capital gains climbed 41 percent and taxable interest rose 29.5 percent, while net partnership and S corporation income gained 27.3 percent.
Taxable income totaled $5.1 trillion in tax year 2005, up 10 percent from the prior year. Total income tax increased for a second straight year, rising 12.4 percent to $934.8 billion. Between tax years 2003 and 2004, total income tax rose 11.2 percent, the first increase in 4 years.

The alternative minimum tax (AMT) grew 33.7 percent between 2004 and 2005 to $17.4 billion. Four million taxpayers paid the AMT in 2005, compared to almost 3.1 million in tax year 2004.

Fall 2007 SOI Bulletin (PDF; 3.6 MB)

Posted by Info Center at 10:19 AM in Statistics | Taxation | Permalink

Source: The Brookings Institution

By virtue of its size, growth, and relative youth, the Hispanic population will have a growing impact on all policy matters related to the family according to a new report. This impact will be large and distinctive. The growth of the Hispanic population has already slowed the decline of the two-parent parent family in the United States as immigration produces a steady flow of young adults with a higher propensity to marry than their native-born peers, both Latino and non-Latino. But, immigration, particularly under current policies, is also producing a disproportionate number of Hispanics who are geographically separated from their spouses. The dynamics shaping the Hispanic family are both complex and fluid. Within the Hispanic population there are notable differences in the prevalence of some key behaviors. Of greatest concern is the finding that births to women who are unmarried are more common among native-born Latinos than foreign born Latinos. Such differences are especially significant for the long term because a large and growing share of the youth population is made up of the native-born children of immigrants. Survey data shows that a powerful process of acculturation is taking place among immigrants and their offspring which produces an erosion of the strong sense of family evident among recent immigrants in favor of attitudes similar to those of non-Latinos in the U.S. population.

Full Paper (PDF; 449 KB)

Posted by Info Center at 2:52 PM in Statistics | Permalink

Source: S. McGinnis, Center for Health Workforce Studies, School of Public Health, SUNY Albany, January 2007
(download)

The services provided by parish nurse/faith community nurses (FCNs) include health education, personal health counseling, referrals and advocacy - services that are increasingly important because of their limited availability in the commercial health care system.

The current study represents a pilot effort at nationwide systematic data collection on parish nurse/FCNs. Data collected included information on background characteristics of parish nurse/FCNs (e.g., demographics and education), parish nursing/FCN practice (e.g., congregation characteristics), services provided to congregations, and workplace issues (e.g., satisfaction and future plans).

Posted by Info Center at 4:35 PM in Health Care Workers | Statistics | Permalink

Source: D. Robertson, S. McGinnis, and J. Moore, Center for Health Workforce Studies, School of Public Health, SUNY Albany, January 2007
(download)

The goal of the pilot study was to test the effectiveness if the survey instrument in producing a detailed description of local public health workers and understand how health workers' composition, roles, educational backgrounds, and training needs affect the organizational capacity of local health departments in New York to perform essential public health services.

The functional enumeration is still underway, but a sufficient number of online and scannable surveys were returned and processed under the pilot study to serve as a basis for this analysis. This report presents findings and recommendations of the pilot study based on survey responses from 1,480 public health workers at 26 local health departments across the state that were received by July 15, 2006.

Posted by Info Center at 4:33 PM in Health Care Workers | Statistics | Permalink

Source: Aaron Terrazas, Jeanne Batalova, Velma Fan, Migration Policy Institute, October 2007

The US debate over immigration policy has raised many questions about immigrants -- their origins, numbers and characteristics, as well as who has settled in which states.

This Spotlight provides answers to many of these frequently asked questions by bringing together resources from the Migration Policy Institute, the US Census Bureau's American Community Survey and Decennial Census, US Departments of Homeland Security and State, and Mexico's National Population Council.

Posted by Info Center at 5:24 PM in Immigration | Statistics | Permalink

Source: Paul Fronstin, Employee Benefit Research Institute, Issue Brief, no. 310, October 2007

What kind of work do you do? What is your income? Are you a man or woman? How many are employed at the firm where you work? Do you work full time or part time? Answers to these questions are key determinants of an individual's likelihood of having health insurance, according to the October 2007 EBRI Issue Brief, published by EBRI.

Posted by Info Center at 5:14 PM in Health Care | Statistics | Permalink

Source: Brookings Institution and the Urban Institute, Tax Policy Center

The State & Local Finance Data Query System (SLF-DQS) allows flexible presentation of data from the Census of Governments State and Local Finance series. That series contains detailed revenue, expenditure and debt variables for the United States, each of the 50 states, and the District of Columbia for 1977-2004. The data are available by type of government: state, local, state and local totals, and local government detail. All data presented are state aggregates of finance data for the selected level of government. Users can view the data along different dimensions, in real or nominal dollars, and on a per capita or fraction of personal income, general revenues or total expenditures basis. This tool is useful for comparative, single state, or time series analysis.

Posted by Info Center at 10:22 AM in State & Local Finance | Statistics | Permalink

Source: Angela Harper, Social Security Administration, SSA Publication No. 13-11785, September 2007

Fast Facts & Figures answers the most frequently asked questions about the programs SSA administers. It highlights basic program data for the Social Security (retirement, survivors, and disability) and Supplemental Security Income programs.

See also:
• Annual Statistical Supplement, 2007 (forthcoming December 2007)

Posted by Info Center at 5:25 PM in Social Security | Statistics | Permalink

Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Women's Bureau, Fact Sheet, October 2007

• Quick Facts on Registered Nurses (RNs)
• Registered nurses (RNs), regardless of specialty or work setting, perform basic duties that include treating patients, educating patients and the public about various medical conditions, and providing advice and emotional support to patients' family members.
• Registered Nurses (RNs) continue to be the healthcare occupation with the largest employment-2.5 million jobs. This is nearly three times the number of physicians and surgeons at 863,000.

Posted by Info Center at 5:17 PM in Health Care Workers | Statistics | Permalink

Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics, August 2007

From the summary:
This report, Charting the U.S. Labor Market in 2006, includes graphs and text describing the U.S. labor market in 2006. Highlights include information about educational attainment, race and Hispanic ethnicity, women, and families.

These data were compiled from several statistical programs of the Bureau of Labor Statistics and are presented together to give an overview of the employment and unemployment situation for the nation that presents both recent data and historical trends over time.

Posted by Info Center at 5:46 PM in Statistics | Workforce | Permalink

Source: U.S. Census, Press Release, CB07-CN.11, September 27, 2007

New data released today from the U.S. Census Bureau provide the first social and economic characteristic profiles of the people living in group quarters -- such as adult correctional facilities, college dorms and nursing homes -- in nearly three decades.

"This release marks the first in-depth look at the characteristics of the nonhousehold population since the 1980 Census," said Census Bureau Director Louis Kincannon. "These are important data to understand as decision makers grapple with policies that impact the people who live in these facilities."

The latest data from the American Community Survey also include profiles of more than 100 race and ethnic group iterations such as blacks, Chinese and Mexicans. In addition, profiles for 72 ancestry groups, from Afghani to Welsh, are also available.

• Links to the primary documents that this summary reports can be accessed in the upper right corner of this web page.

Posted by Info Center at 5:42 PM in Housing | Statistics | Permalink

Source: John Mann and Jon Runge, Journal AWWA, Vol. 99 no. 10, October 2007
(subscription required)

From the summary:
The State of the Industry (SOTI) survey, now in its fourth year, has compiled a wealth of trending data on the water industry. These data--reflecting input from utility representatives, service providers, and other professionals across the United States and Canada--help illuminate the water industry's current and future concerns.

Posted by Info Center at 11:21 AM in Environment | Statistics | Permalink