First round of 2012 American Community Survey results released

The U.S. Census Bureau has just released the first round of data from the 2012 American Community Survey (ACS). This survey is the primary source of demographic, income and poverty data for the United States. It covers more than 40 topics ranging from language spoken at home to selected monthly homeowner costs.

As usual, these figures can be accessed from the American FactFinder. To learn more about ACS, see a previous post written about an article by Jim Robson in a past issue of Trendlines.We’ll publish interesting facts from the ACS data in upcoming posts. The current release includes figures for the nation, states, Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs) and counties/places with population of 65,000 or more. A list of the Utah areas follows after the jump.

• Cache County
• Davis County
• Salt Lake County
• Utah County
• Washington County
• Weber County
• Layton
• Millcreek CDP
• Ogden
• Orem
• Provo
• St. George
• Salt Lake City
• Sandy
• West Jordan
• West Valley

What is the American Community Survey?

In an article written for DWS’ November/December 2005 issue of Trendlines, regional economist Jim Robson writes about the American Community Survey.

Every ten years a census of the U.S. population is taken. This complete count of the population is used to reapportion the 435 seats in the House of Representatives among the states so that each state has at least two seats and all remaining congressional districts have roughly the same population. For many decades the census consisted of two parts: the short form, filled out by all households and individuals, counts population; and the long form, which obtains demographic, housing, economic and social characteristics. The long form information was collected from a sample of the U.S. population, with about one in six households or individuals being asked to fill it out.

Since the Census is taken once every ten years, the long form information becomes outdated within a few years. After the 2010 Census, a new annual survey was begun to replace the long form questions. The American Community Survey is now being used to collect long-form type information every year instead of once in ten years.

The American Community Survey (ACS) collects information from a random sample of households in all communities in the country, and is conducted under the same laws as the decennial census, providing the same confidential protections. Under the law, as part of the census, households selected are required to answer the survey.

The survey is conducted throughout the year, collecting information from one-in-480 of selected addresses each month. Annual estimates of demographic, economic, housing, and social characteristics will be published for all counties and cities with a population of 65,000 or more. By combining sampled households over three and five year periods, annual estimates for small communities became available in 2010.

The information collected from ACS is needed by government at all levels – federal state, and local to manage and evaluate programs and services and to comply with requirements stipulated in law. Businesses, other private organizations, and individuals also make use of the se community-based statistics for a host of marketing, planning, and service delivery activities. Information has become a vital component of our economic and social community well-being.

By collecting information from households every month, community-based data is obtained with less of a burden on households than was the case with the census long form. The ACS has been designed to provide timely annual estimates of information needed for the proper functioning of government at all levels, for our economic system, and for our social and community life.

For more see: http://www.census.gov/acs/www/

Construction Industry Still Looking for the Upswing

Despite hopes the industry would be looking up, construction companies are still trying to hold on and wait for an economic bounce back, according to a group of construction executives at Utah Business magazine’s roundtable Tuesday morning.

Many are also worried that the long-term depression in construction is has reduced interest in construction jobs and companies will face a future shortage of workers and an experience gap in leadership.

“While there is some work out there, is there enough? Several years ago, in 2008 and 2009, we had about $1.5 billion of work in the building industry that we could go after. Now we’re down to about $586 million and we’re still the same guys around the table going after that work,” said Rob Moore, president of Big-D.
Paul Campbell, Wheeler Machinery vice president, said that lack of upward movement is reflected in the equipment side. Companies are simply replacing equipment, not expanding the fleet, and more people are renting rather than buying.

The overall feeling is flat, said Dale Campbell, R&O Construction president. “There are ups and downs throughout the year and there’s a little excitement, but then the project gets put on hold or something happens and the excitement dies,” he said.

The residential market is improving, but is still only about a third of what it was at the height of the market, said Jason Kilgore, president of Kilgore Companies. The subdivision side of residential is still a little worse than everything else. While he said news that the sector is improving is true, “30 or 40 percent of nothing is still nothing.”

In the meantime, companies at the table were finding work wherever possible, in jobs like renovations, medical facilities, or food and distribution facilities.

Another concern is a “lost generation,” said Jeff Beecher, Layton Construction executive vice president. Several years ago, there was high demand for people coming into the industry, but now not as many are looking into construction as a career. When business does pick back up, Beecher said he is worried that there will not be the same supply of qualified people.

Other attendees expressed concern that with fewer and lower-budget projects, the younger people in the company haven’t had the same opportunities to learn and grow into leadership roles that other employees are getting ready to retire from.

Moore said many people don’t realize construction still pays 7 percent more on average than other private sector jobs in Utah. The industry needs to do a better job of helping people understand that, he said, so they will have a steady supply of qualified employees. Utah Business

Tech, health seeing highest growth rates in job market

The hot jobs in the immediate future will be electronic or medical, job forecasters say.

“Healthcare is, of course, the area that is the strongest, with the aging of the baby boomers,” says Jim Robson, a state economist with the Workforce Research and Analysis division of the Utah Department of Workforce Services.

“Baby boomers just started to retire last year. That big cohort will be retiring for the next 20 years. Even without them, the health/medical sector has been as strong as technology.”

The WRA, a 30-member unit, publishes a massive occupational projection report every two years.

The 2008-18 report, the most recent one published, shows health and tech jobs with the highest annual growth rates at 4 and 5 percent.

The 2010-20 report comes out next month, and Robson says that job trends aren’t expected to have changed. Standard Examiner

Degrees to Somewhere – Trendlines Story

In 2009 the American Community Survey (ACS) added a new education data item: field of study for those who have at least a bachelor’s degree. Respondents with a degree are asked to list their specific field(s) of study. The Census Bureau codes the responses and accumulates them into 5 general fields and 15 more detailed categories. Field of study can be compared to other characteristics such as gender, age, occupation, industry of employment and income to enable those who are concerned with the relationship between higher education and our economy to better understand the educational preparation and attainment of the labor force according to occupation and industry. Read more here.

Women Outperform Men in Educational Attainment - Trendlines article

One very important aspect of U.S. economic success, prosperity, and growth over the decades has been increasing educational attainment of the populace over time. An educated workforce is associated with higher productivity, increasing real incomes, and a better standard of living.

In recent years, one trend of particular note has been the relatively large increase in educational attainment of women.

To read this entire article, click here.

Fun, Beauty and Culture Support Economic Growth

Economist Jim Robson talks about the employment impact of tourism in Utah in a recent Trendlines magazine article:

The leisure and hospitality industry provides a significant number of jobs, wages, and economic activity within Utah.  Not only do Utahns enjoy the great beauty, diversity, and year round recreation, travel, and tourism activities within the state, but people flock here from all parts of the globe.  The visitors to our ski resorts, national and state parks, historical sites, and festivals bring with them the income that sustains the economic vitality of many communities across the state.

Ten counties in Utah derive more than 15 percent of their nonfarm jobs from the leisure and hospitality industry. For these counties, and others in the nonmetropolitan parts of the state, recreation, travel, and tourism activities are main economic drivers.

You can read the full article by clicking here.

A National & Regional Green Jobs Assessment

In a recent Trendlines magazine article, economist Jim Robson writes:

While interest in understanding the green economy has been high in recent years, it has been problematic to define, isolate, and count. Currently, there is no national green database with standard industry and occupational classifications across states, regions, and metropolitan areas. The numerous green jobs and green economy studies done in recent years have somewhat different definitions and methodologies that have prevented suitable regional and state comparisons.

To address these data and definitional shortcomings, the Metropolitan Policy Program at The Brookings Institution in association with Battelle Technology Partnership Practice (Brookings/Battelle), developed a database at the establishment level for every county in the U.S. covering the years 2003 to 2010. This database has enabled Brookings/Battelle to produce a study—Sizing the Clean Economy, A National and Regional Green Jobs Assessment. This study provides timely major industry and occupational green jobs analysis for all states, the District of Columbia, and for the 100 largest metropolitan areas in the U.S.

To read the entire article, click here.

Defining "Green" Jobs

In our recent edition of Trendlines Magazine, economist Jim Robson writes about defining "green" jobs:

In recent years, public policies nationally and internationally are increasingly focused on the need to transform economic activities to be sustainable, secure, and healthier. Economic activities—production, invest20lth, conserve resources, and secure our energy future have been given the label “green.”

Concepts and discussions of the green economy have been with us for many years, but attempts to understand its scope, size, and growth have been stymied by the lack of official government data on green industries, occupations, and employment. As various states, regions, and national organizations have struggled to measure the green economy in the recent past, the need for standard and comprehensive measurement of the green economy became clear.

To read this entire article, click here.

Fewer Family Households in Utah

The 2010 Census shows that married couples have dropped below half of all households in the United States for the first time in history. The demographic trend of fewer family households has been documented by each Census since WWII. In 2010, married couples represented 48 percent of households in the U.S. compared to 55 percent in 2000, and considerably below the 78 percent of households recorded in the 1950 Census.
If you define a “traditional family” as being a married couple with children less than 18 years of age, just 20 percent of households would qualify in 2010 compared to 25 percent a decade ago and 43 percent in 1950.

To read an article about the types of households in Utah by economist Jim Robson, check out our Trendlines magazine by clicking here.

The Recession keeps Americans in Place

"Numbers of people moving are down; but most of those who did move still reside in the same county. Between 2009 and 2010, 37.5 million people in the U.S. moved at least once to new quarters. This amounts to 12.5 percent of all people 1 year of age or older."

To read more of this Trendlines Magazine article by economist, Jim Robson, and others click here.

Utah among highest in surge of foreclosure filings

The number of Utah households facing foreclosure jumped by 75 percent in the first quarter from a year ago, much higher than the 16 percent increase nationally, a new report shows. Nearly 10,800 households in the state, or one in every 88 homes, received a foreclosure-related notice, said RealtyTrac, an Irvine, Calif.-based company that tracks filings. The firm said Utah has the fifth-highest rate of foreclosure filings of all states, behind only Nevada, Arizona, Florida and California. The Salt Lake Tribune

Bankruptcies on record pace

Utah bankruptcy filings are steadily climbing as the nation's recession continues to take a toll on the financial well-being of more and more people. The U.S. Bankruptcy Court for Utah reported nearly 1,000 more filings in the first quarter of 2010 than the first three months of last year. If the rate continues, the number of bankruptcies filed in Utah will be back to record levels last seen in 2005. That was the year Congress revamped the nation's bankruptcy code, making it more difficult for consumers to file for protection or walk away from their debts. The Salt Lake Tribune

Varied Effects of the Recession by Industry

From the third quarter of 2007 to the third quarter of 2009, nonfarm payroll jobs have declined by 5.5 percent or a net reduction 69,500 positions. Although job losses were widespread across most of Utah’s industries, by far the greatest employment reductions have occurred in construction, where one-third of the jobs have been lost. Construction employers cut 35,400 jobs from their payrolls over the past two years; a little more than half of all jobs eliminated statewide during this recession. Manufacturing is the second most-impacted industry with a reduction of 16,335 or 12.7 percent of jobs. The few industry sectors that continue to add jobs during this recession were healthcare, private education, and government. The majority of job gains in government are related to education—both local public kindergarten through twelfth grade, and state-financed higher education. TrendLines

Call Center Lay Offs and New Jobs

Affiliated Computer Services said Monday it will hire 225 people to work at its call center at 1911 N. 2200 West in Salt Lake City.That news comes less than a week after CompuCredit, an Atlanta-based financial services company, said it will lay off 162 employees at its call center at 5215 Wiley Post Way; Convergys said it was hiring more than 1,500 temporary workers for its U.S. Census call centers in Taylorsville and Ogden; and 150 Clearfield-based call center workers laid off last October by Teleperformance USA learned they are eligible for federal assistance from the U.S. Department of Labor. In addition, Vangent Inc. and three temporary staffing companies in Utah are in the process of hiring another 1,500 temporary people to work at another Census Bureau call center in Sandy. Salt Lake Tribune