Statistics and Indicators

3Global Economic Crisis to Trigger Consolidation of the Asset Management Industry in 2009, Finds Frost & Sullivan

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. - June 9, 2009 - The asset management industry is witnessing interesting developments in the current global crisis, as new investment avenues and a revitalized focus on investment areas and policies are set to energize the industry.

New analysis from Frost & Sullivan (http://www.financialservices.frost.com), Impact of Global Crisis on the Asset Management Industry, reveals that safer and defensive instruments are likely to be favored by investors. The markets covered in this research are the financial sector, mutual funds, hedge funds, private equity and venture capital, and mergers and acquisitions.    » read more »

Washington, DC - 06/10/2009 - The number of jobs in America’s emerging clean energy economy grew nearly two and a half times faster than overall jobs between 1998 and 2007, according to a report (PDF) released today by The Pew Charitable Trusts. Pew developed a clear, data-driven definition of the clean energy economy and conducted the first-ever hard count across all 50 states of the actual jobs, companies and venture capital investments that supply the growing market demand for environmentally friendly products and services.    » read more »

June 9, 2009 -- The nation’s largest airlines had a rate of on-time flights this past April that was higher than both the same month last year and the mark posted in March 2009, according to the Air Travel Consumer Report released today by the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT).

According to information filed with the Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS), a part of DOT’s Research and Innovative Technology Administration (RITA), the 19 carriers reporting on-time performance recorded an overall on-time arrival rate of 79.1 percent in April, better than both the 77.7 percent on-time rate of April 2008 and March 2009’s 78.4 percent.    » read more »

June 3, 2009 -- New data from the U.S. Census Bureau show that 62 percent of households reported using Internet access in the home in 2007, an increase from 18 percent in 1997, the first year the bureau collected data on Internet use. (See Table 1.)

Sixty-four percent of individuals 18 and over used the Internet from any location in 2007, while only 22 percent did so in 1997. (See table 2.)

Among households using the Internet in 2007, 82 percent reported using a high-speed connection, and 17 percent used a dial-up connection. (See Table 1.)    » read more »

Study shows Iowa outpaced national economy in the year 2008; state ranks 9th in nation for economic growth

June 2, 2009 -- DES MOINES – The Bureau of Economic Analysis today released new statistics that show Iowa’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) grew 2.12% in 2008, placing Iowa ninth in United States in GDP growth, and more than two percent higher than the national GDP.    » read more »

June 1, 2009 -- Washington D.C. -- According to the FBI's Preliminary Annual Uniform Crime Report released today, the nation experienced a 2.5 percent decrease in the number of violent crimes and a 1.6 percent decline in the number of property crimes for 2008 compared with data from 2007. The report is based on information that the FBI gathered from 12,750 law enforcement agencies that submitted six to 12 comparable months of data to the FBI for both 2007 and 2008.

Violent Crime

* In 2008, all four of the violent crime offense categories declined nationwide compared with data from 2007. Murder and nonnegligent manslaughter declined 4.4 percent, aggravated assault was down 3.2 percent, forcible rape decreased 2.2 percent, and robbery decreased 1.1 percent.    » read more »

Study Finds High Underinsurance Rates For Sicker Workers With Modest Incomes

June 2, 2009 -- The 161 million Americans with employer-sponsored health insurance are facing substantial increases in out-of-pocket (OOP) costs, according to a study published today on the Health Affairs Web site.

The study, authored by researchers from the National Opinion Research Center (NORC) and Watson Wyatt Worldwide and funded by The Commonwealth Fund, examines trends in the comprehensiveness of employer-sponsored insurance (ESI) from 2004 to 2007. It finds rising rates of underinsurance and unaffordability, particularly for poorer and sicker people.    » read more »

WASHINGTON, May 29, 2009 - For the first time, results from the Census of Agriculture have been published at the watershed level by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS).

"Our data users in the agricultural and environmental communities have expressed the need for watershed data and NASS is proud to meet their needs," said Carol House, NASS deputy administrator for programs and products. "The new watershed publication presents agricultural data that conforms to geographic boundaries, rather than state and county boundaries."    » read more »

Rise in Firings, Intimidation Show Need for Employee Free Choice Act

May 20, 2009 -- (Washington, DC) — A new study by renowned labor expert and Cornell University professor Kate Bronfenbrenner reveals that private sector employer opposition to workers’ efforts to form unions has intensified and become more punitive than in the past. Employers are more than twice as likely to use 10 or more tactics – including threats of and actual firings – in their campaigns to thwart workers’ organizing efforts.

Today’s anti-union activities include a greater focus than in the past on more coercive and punitive tactics designed to intensely monitor and punish union activity.    » read more »

05/22/2009 -- California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger today released the following statement after the California Employment Development Department released its most recent unemployment data:

“While it is encouraging to see California’s unemployment rate level off this month, we’re still experiencing job loss and have a long way to go on the road to economic recovery.    » read more »