Items tagged with 'data'
Capital Region elementary school test scores
The state Education Department released results from the English and math proficiency tests for grades 3-8 this week.
So, we pulled out the results for Capital Region school districts. A compact, easy-skim version is after the jump -- with links to more detail. (If you want a school-by-school breakdown, NYSED makes that available, too.)
On to the data, some of which are sobering...
New York's least-smoky counties
The Capital Region's four core counties have some of the lowest adult smoking rates in the state, according to data distributed by the state health department today.
The full rankings are after the jump. Among Capital Region counties, Albany County had the lowest smoking rate at 16.5 percent.
We were also curious about how smoking rates might associate with income -- so we whipped the two sets together. The result is also in there.
Eww: The DOH released this data as part of push to get people to stop smoking. Part of the campaign: two new TV spots of which a DOH officials says: "Some viewers may complain the ads are too graphic or emotional..." The one embedded above is pretty gross. Here's the other.
Capital Region June unemployment rate better than last year
The dots mark the unemployment rate for the last five Junes.
The Capital Region's unemployment rate was 6.6 percent in June, according to the state Department of Labor. It was 6.5 percent in May and 7.1 percent in June 2009. (June to June is the best comparison because the local unemployment rate is not seasonally adjusted.)
There are more than 30,000 people unemployed in the Capital Region.
New York State's overall unemployment rate in June was 8.2. The state's rate was 8.3 in May and 8.6 in June 2009 (seasonally adjusted, so if you'd like to compare different months against each other, compare away).
The national unemployment rate in June was 9.5 percent.
Breakouts for individual Capital Region counties after the jump. Every county showed a decrease in the unemployment rate compared to June 2009.
The Capital Region's economy is performing relatively well
The Albany metro area was among the 21 economically strongest performing large metro areas through the first quarter of 2010, according to the Brookings Institution.
The report bases the rankings on a handful of categories: employment, unemployment, output, home prices, and foreclosure rates.
The Albany metro area scored well for foreclosed properties and both employment and unemployment -- and relatively well for housing prices (the ranks, with the associated data, are after the jump).
Of course, all these rankings are relative to other metro areas. The overall picture is not great. The Brookings report describes the current national situation as "a jobless and increasingly fragile recovery."
New York is not the volunteer state
The top four volunteer activities in this metro area.
From a report called Volunteering in America, based on averages from 2006-2009:
The Albany metro area has 200,000 volunteers
27.1% of residents volunteer - ranking them 44th among the 75 Mid-size cities
34.7 hours per resident - ranking them 44th within the 75 Mid-size cities
$532.2 million of service contributed here
Here's the full rundown for this metro area.
The report includes a list of "community factors that may influence Albany's volunteer rate" -- but in Albany's case they would seem to indicate that more people in this area would be volunteering.
New York State did terribly in the rankings -- 51st among all states (and DC) for percentage of people who volunteer. NYC probably accounts for a lot of that -- it's volunteer rate was 50th among 51 large cities.
Here are the national rankings.
The federal government produced the report based on data collected by the Census Bureau.
[via the TU's Chris Churchill]
Earlier on AOA:
+ From 2008: Know of a great place to volunteer?
graph: Volunteering in America
The Capital Region's unemployment rate is a little better. Sort of. Maybe.
The dots mark the Capital Region unemployment rate for each May since 2000. It's easier to read big.
The Capital Region's unemployment rate was 6.5 percent in May, according to the state Department of Labor. It was 6.5 percent in April and 6.7 percent in May 2009. (May to May is the best comparison because the local unemployment rate is not seasonally adjusted.)
The labor department reports the number of non-farm jobs in the Capital Region last month was down 2,500 compared to May 2009. There are still almost 30,000 people unemployed in the Capital Region.
New York State's overall unemployment rate in May was 8.3 -- the lowest rate since April 2009. The state's rate was 8.4 this past April and 8.4 in May 2009 (seasonally adjusted). But the labor department says the number of non-farm jobs in the state last month was down 22,700 compared to May 2009.
So, what's up here? There are fewer jobs compared to this time year -- but the unemployment rate is down (slightly)?
Most popular baby names in New York 2009
As it does every year, the Social Security Administration recently released a list of the most popular baby names in 2009. You can break the list out by state, which is exactly what we did.
The list of the most 100 popular names for boys and girls born in New York last year is after the jump.
Listomania
A list of lists: from beer to frowns to development to on-time arrivals.
Updated June 8, 2010
Everybody loves a good list. And it seems like every month or so, the Capital Region or New York State (or something around here) ends being ranked on some sort of list.
We got thinking about this recently -- and came to the only logical conclusion: there needs to be a list of lists.
And here it is.
Surge of home sales near the deadline
Updated: We've noticed a few discrepancies between these numbers and those being reported elsewhere. We're checking to figure out what's up. The general trends still hold true, though.
So, it looks like the federal first-time homebuyer credit prompted a bunch of people to buy a house in the Capital Region.
The Greater Capital Association of Realtors reported today in its monthly stats release that pending sales in April were up almost 46 percent compared the same month the year before (and 24 percent from two years ago). And the number of closed sales was up 14.5 percent. (Buyers just needed to have a contract to qualify for the credit.)
New York continues to add jobs
The dots mark the unemployment rate for each April since 2000. It's easier to read large.
The Capital Region's unemployment rate was 6.5 percent in April, according to the state Department of Labor. It was 7.2 percent in March and 6.5 percent in April 2009. (April to April is the best comparison because the local unemployment rate is not seasonally adjusted.)
The labor department reports the Capital Region added more than 4,000 jobs last month. There were almost 30,000 people unemployed in the Capital Region.
New York State's overall unemployment rate was 8.4 -- that's lowest rate since May 2009. The state's rate was 8.6 in March and 8.1 in April 2009 (seasonally adjusted). The labor department says the state added jobs for the fourth straight month.
That unemployment rate for the entire United States was 9.9 percent in April.
Breakouts for individual Capital Region counties are after the jump.
How much sushi is too much?
A plate from Mr. Fuji in Clifton Park.
Local sushi list updated Wednesday at noon.
After yesterday's post about the new Mr. Fuji going into Stuyvesant Plaza, a few people commented on the abundance of sushi places in the Capital Region now. And we had the same thought (thus, the headline "Yet another sushi place").
So, it seems like there are a lot of sushi places. But how many is "a lot"? Or, for that matter, too many?
Well, there are a few ways to answer that question. One of them is to compare the Capital Region's number of sushi places per capita versus that of other cities.
And that's exactly what we did.
At the pump
The chart above is from AlbanyGasPrices.com, the crowd-sourced gas prices site. It tracks the average price for a gallon of regular gasoline in the Albany area over the past year. The price has backed off during the last week or so, but it's still just about at the high for the last year.
If you go to the Albany Gas Prices site, you can graph the price against the national average (it tracks pretty closely) and crude oil prices -- and over different time spans, too.
AAA also tracks this data for the metro area, but without the graphs (and who doesn't love a graph).
The federal Energy Information Administration forecasted today that average gasoline prices will increase about four percent over the next year.
[prompted by a tweet from @AndyArthur]
Earlier on AOA:
+ From 2008: Gas hits four dollars and everyone's squeezed
+ How many gallons per mile?
+ Save money on gas... at Price Chopper?
graph: Albany Gas Prices
Projected Capital Region school district per-pupil spending
The Empire Center released a rundown of projected school budgets across the state for 2010-2011, along with project per-pupil spending.* The think tank reports that the Capital Region has lowest projected increase in per-pupil spending at 1.1 percent.
We pulled out the numbers for the Capital Region (the data are embedded after the jump). The tiny Menands school district (enrollment 230) topped the list of highest per-pupil spending at $32,956.00. The Mohonasen school district (Rotterdam) was the lowest at $13,993.00.
Ballston Spa had the highest per-pupil spending increase at 6.4 percent. The Brunswick school district had the biggest decrease at -7.7 percent (followed by Albany at -3.7 percent).
Earlier on AOA:
+ Capital Region high school graduation rates 2009
+ Capital Region school spending
Our humans are relatively well developed
New York's in the top 7.
The American Human Development Project released its annual "Measure of America" report today. The survey ranks states and congressional districts according to a "human development index," which is based on factors such as life-expectancy, education and income.
As it happens, New York scores pretty well in the index -- it ranks #7 overall (Connecticut was #1) and the New York 14th Congressional District (Manhattan and Queens) ranked #1 among all congressional districts.
Here in the Capital Region, the NY 21st (Paul Tonko) ranked #148 nationally, and the NY 20th (Scott Murphy) #162. That's better than a little more than 60 percent of all the congressional districts.
The stat-by-stat breakdown for the two districts is after the jump.
By the way: According to the report, Asian-Americans in New Jersey live better than any other group in the nation.
A few more jobs
The Capital Region's unemployment rate was 7.2 percent last month, according to numbers out from the state Department of Labor today. That's down a bit from February (7.7 percent) and about the same as March of 2009 (7.1 percent). The labor department figures the area added 2,700 jobs last month -- but it's still 6,700 jobs behind where it was in March 2009.
There are almost 33,000 unemployed people in the Capital Region.
A county-by-county breakdown is after the jump. As you'll see, Albany and Saratoga counties aren't doing all that badly (relatively). Schoharie County, which the DOL includes in the Capital Region, is hurting.
New York State's unemployment rate was 8.8 in March (9.2 in February | 8.2 in March 2009). The national unemployment rate was 10.2 (10.4 in February | 9.0 in March 2009).
Numbers for the Capital Region are not seasonally adjusted (so the best comparison is the month from the year before). State and national numbers are seasonally adjusted.
Supermarket Showdown III
Three-peat?
AOA's annual comparison of local supermarket chain prices is back. Walmart is the two-time defending champ -- and it hasn't even been close.
Can Hannaford or Price Chopper close the gap this year?
Not any worse
It's something.
What now counts as good news: the Capital Region's unemployment rate didn't get any worse last month.
The state Department of Labor reported today that the area's unemployment rate was 7.7 percent in February. It was 7.8 percent in January and 7.2 percent a year ago. *
The labor department figures there were about 4,700 more jobs in the Capital Region last month, compared to January. That's down almost 10k jobs from February 2009.
There were more than 35,000 unemployed people in the Capital Region last month.
Statewide, the unemployment rate was 8.8 percent (7.8 percent outside NYC). That's the same as January. It was 7.5 percent in February 2009. The national unemployment rate was 9.7 percent. **
A labor department official noted in the press release accompanying the numbers that "following previous recessions, it has taken the state about five years, on average, to regain all of the jobs lost during a downturn."
A county-by-county breakdown for the Capital Region is after the jump.
Also: For a different angle on the unemployment situation, here's tcrpmg's recent experience at a few job fairs.
Census participation rates
You know, for when you need to talk smack about another census tract. Or not.
The Census Bureau is posting daily updates about "participation" rates -- by county, city and even individual census tracts.
It's still early in the collection process, but differences are already starting to show up. For example: the tract that includes the Park South neighborhood in Albany has an 8 percent participation rate (its final rate was 53 percent in 2000). The adjacent track that includes the Helderberg neighborhood is at 25 percent (82 percent in 2000).
As it happens, that Park South tract is considered a one of the hardest to count tracts in the nation.
You can explore the rates on maps or side-by-side text comparisons.
How the Census Bureau's calculating the rates:
The Mail Participation Rate is the percentage of forms mailed back by households that received them. The Census Bureau developed this new measure in 2010, in part because of the current economy and higher rates of vacant housing. The rate excludes households whose forms were returned to us by the U.S. Postal Service as "undeliverable," strongly suggesting the house was vacant. We will still follow up on all these housing units to ensure everyone is counted.
New York State's participation rate is 18 percent so far. The national participation rate is 20 percent. The place with the highest participation rate is Leighton, Iowa at 75 percent.
(Thanks, Fred!)
map grab: US Census Bureau
Home sales spring forward
Here are the February median home sales prices for the four core counties of the Capital Region, as reported by GCAR.
Both sales prices and the number of closed sales were up compared to February 2009. Prices were more or less the same compared to January 2010 -- except in Rensselaer County where they were up about 9 percent (these monthly snapshots of the market should be taken a few grains of salt because of smaller pool of data).
The "months supply of inventory" (the number of active listings available to the average monthly pending sales for the last twelve months) for the Greater Capital Region (which includes Schoharie and Washington counties) was 9.7 -- which is still pretty high when compared to five years ago (page 10).
It'll be interesting to see how things shake out as we head into the prime home buying season. We've noticed "for sale" signs popping up all over the last few weeks.
Earlier on AOA:
+ Median home prices by city for 2010
+ Our housing market is overvalued?
+ Lots of houses
Saratoga County is healthy
A new set of county-by-county health rankings out this week pegs Saratoga as the second "healthiest" county in New York State.
Here are how the Capital Region counties stack up in the New York rankings, as compiled by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the University of Wisconsin:
There are 62 counties in New York.
In this case, health outcomes refers to mortality (specifically premature death) and morbidity (people in poor physical health). Each county has its own page, which lists the the stats that contribute to the rankings.
Here are a few things that caught our eye when looking through the details for the Capital Region...
New York's still #3
New York is still the country's third most populous state, according to new estimates out from the Census Bureau (it's the last estimate before next year's census).
The Empire State was estimated to have 19,541,453 people in July 2009. That's .4 percent more than July 2008.
The bureau reports that population growth in many Sun Belt states slowed considerably during the past year (a demographer says the recession probably played role in the slowdown). That helped keep Florida behind New York at #4. The top two continued to be California and Texas.
The breakdown on New York's population growth last year (births, deaths, migration) is after the jump.
Earlier on AOA: Where's everybody going?
Lots of houses
The Capital Region's supply of homes for sale, as measured by "months of inventory."
We were skimming through the latest package of Capital Region home sales stats from the Greater Capital Association of Realtors when the above graph caught our eye. It depicts the trend in "inventory" in the Capital Region.
Turning of the tide?
The Capital Region unemployment rate since the start of the recession.
The New York State Department of Labor today reported that the Capital Region's unemployment rate was 6.7 percent in November, down .3 percent compared to October. The rate was 5.3 percent in November 2008.*
The number that caught our eye this month was the raw number of people employed. The labor department reports that 419,900 people were employed in the Capital Region in November -- that's almost 11,000 fewer people with jobs than a year ago.
The state unemployment rate was 8.4 percent in November, down .3 percent from October (it was 6.1 percent in November 2008.) The national unemployment rate was 9.4 percent - down .1 percent from October (it was 6.5 percent a year ago).
* Capital Region data is not seasonally adjusted.
Are things getting better or worse?
The Siena Research Institute released an interesting poll today, a Capital Region "survey of social needs." The poll was intended to gauge how people in the Capital Region perceive the importance/severity of a bunch of social problems.
For example, the poll asked, "In general do you think the overall quality of life for most people in the Capital region has improved, stayed about the same or gotten worse over the last year?" Fifty-one percent of the respondents said things had "gotten worse."
Here are a few other results that caught our eye...
Sideways
The Capital Region's unemployment rate since the start of the recession.
The Capital Region's unemployment rate was 7 percent in October, according to NYS Department of Labor data released today. That's up from 4.9 percent during the same period last year. It's basically unchanged from last month.
The labor department reports that the number of nonfarm jobs has decreased by 12,100 (2.7 percent) and the number of private sector jobs has decreased by 9,200 (2.7 percent) in the region over the last year.
The Capital Region is still doing better than both the state and country as a whole. The overall unemployment rate for New York State was 9 percent in October (8 percent everywhere except NYC) and 10.2 percent for the US.
We've updated our 10-year graph of Capital Region unemployment -- it really gives you perspective on how unusual the current labor market is.
The federal government reported last month that the national economy has begun growing again (well, GDP has).
Job growth often lags GDP growth, though. During the last national recession, the Capital Region's unemployment rate didn't start falling until three months after the recession ended. The state labor department reported that NYS lost 15,300 non-farm jobs last month.
... said Kaitlin about Viva Kaitlin!