Breaking Local Stories with BLS Data by Paul Overberg
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The document discusses how local reporters can find and use Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) data to write news stories on topics like county and metro area employment, unemployment rates, wages, and business dynamics. It provides an overview of key BLS data sources and direct links to data on county unemployment rates, metro area unemployment and employment, average local wages, and state-level business job gains and losses. Examples are given of news articles that have used these BLS data sources.
Breaking Local Stories with BLS Data by Paul Overberg
- 1. Breaking Local Stories Title SlideData with Economic U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
- 2. Paul Overberg Paul Overberg, a database editor at USA TODAY, finds news in all kinds of data. He focuses on who the American people are and how they live -- their demographics. That includes income in all of its many forms; the lack of income, or poverty; and jobs, the primary source of income for most people. Through IRE/NICAR, he often helps local reporters learn about this kind of data. He poverberg@usatoday.com also has worked as a science and health @poverberg editor and as a local reporter and business editor.
- 3. What we’ll cover Real news stories using BLS data on: • County employment, unemployment • Metro labor force, unemployment • Metro employment • Metro wage rates Photo by Flick user zesser • State business dynamics • How to find each type of data • How to turn data → stories!
- 4. County unemployment “Fairfax County’s jobless rate declined slightly from October to November … to 3.6% …” -- Vienna (VA) Sun Gazette, Jan. 17, 2013
- 5. County unemployment • Start here: bls.gov/lau/home.htm • Click on highlighted link: “LAU tables and maps” • County data: bls.gov/lau/laucntycur14.txt bls.gov/lau/home.htm
- 6. County unemployment • If you have a spreadsheet, open the file and filter on “Adams County, CO”
- 7. County unemployment • Ideas: Google image search for “county unemployment map”
- 8. Video: Excel as BLS dashboard How to collect regular BLS data updates without having to reformat, analyze and graph it each month Review the video at: h"p://bit.ly/econdata13
- 9. Metro unemployment “The Lubbock-area unemployment rate fell to 5.8 percent in August from 6.4 percent in July … because of notable losses in both jobs and the civilian labor force.” -- Sept. 21, 2012, Lubbock (Texas) Avalanche-Journal h"p://lubbockonline.com/business/ 2012-‐09-‐21/local-‐unemployment-‐rate-‐ falls-‐58-‐percent-‐sizeable-‐drop-‐workforce-‐ jobs#.UUILNFe0J8E
- 10. Metro unemployment • Start here: bls.gov/lau/home.htm http://bls.gov/lau/home.htm • Choose first link in highlighted section: “Unemployment rates for metro areas”
- 11. Metro unemployment • Direct links: Monthly: bls.gov/web/metro/laummtrk.htm Year-over-year: bls.gov/web/metro/laummtch.htm
- 12. Metro employment “ … the six-county Chattanooga region added 3,900 jobs in the most recent 12-month period …” -- Dave Flessner, Jan. 1, 2013, Chattanooga Times Free-Press h"p:// www.Lmesfreepress.com/ news/2013/jan/01/rebound-‐ cha"anooga-‐leads-‐state-‐job-‐ growth/?print
- 13. Metro employment Start here: bls.gov/news.release/metro.toc.htm • Table 1: Labor force, unemployed • Table 3: Employed bls.gov/news.release/metro.toc.htm
- 14. Metro employment Start here: bls.gov/news.release/ metro.toc.htm • Table 1: Labor force, unemployed • Table 3: Employed
- 15. Local wages “… Miami-Dade finishes in the middle of the pack. ... average weekly wage grew to $880 in the third quarter of 2011, a 3.3 percent gain ... .” -- Douglas Hanks, HispanicBusiness.com, May 11, 2012 h"p://www.hispanicbusiness.com/2012/5/11/wage_gains_not_matching_job_gains.htm
- 16. Local wages Start here: bls.gov/bls/blswage.htm • Choose second link of fourth section: “For 375 metropolitan areas …” bls.gov/bls/blswage.htm • Choose “D” for “District of Columbia,” then “Washington-Arlington- Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV”
- 17. Local wages Use column sorting to see top-paying occupations.
- 18. Video: Location quotient A powerful tool to analyze your local economy Review the video at: h"p://bit.ly/econdata13
- 19. Employment dynamics “… Colorado gained 128,595 private-sector jobs in last year’s fourth quarter from the previous quarter and lost 122,675 jobs, for a net gain of 5,920 jobs …” -- Mark Harden, Aug. 2, 2012, Denver Business Journal h"p://www.bizjournals.com/denver/news/2012/08/02/colorado-‐gains-‐business-‐jobs-‐a-‐bit.html
- 20. Employment dynamics Start here: bls.gov/news.release/cewbd.toc.htm • Click on link for Table 6 http://bls.gov/news.release/cewbd.toc.htm
- 22. Employment dynamics To explore much deeper: onthemap.ces.census.gov
- 23. Questions? h"p:/bit.ly/econdata13 Thanks for coming! for workshop slides, videos, handouts Source: The Washington Post