Dec 20th
It’s UK-centric, but this graphic from the website Money.co.UK does a great job of reviewing the financial collapse, subsequent recession and the tepid growth seen in its aftermath. Needless to say, the picture in the US hasn’t been much different than “across the pond.”
View the full graphic here.
hat tip: Ritholtz.com
The US Bureau of Labor Statistics recently released state-by-state Unemployment data for November 2010. According to the BLS the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for the state of Idaho was 9.4% in November, an increase of +0.4% from a year earlier. Over that period, unemployment rose by +3,300 workers, from 67,500 to 70,800.
The change in Idaho’s unemployment rate appeared greater than the nation as a whole; the seasonally adjusted national unemployment rate was unchanged from a year earlier. However, Idaho’s rate remained below the national rate.
Idaho tied for having the 33th lowest unemployment rate in the nation; North Dakota had the lowest, with 3.8%, and Nevada posted the highest, at 14.3%.
Idaho’s November unemployment remained marginally below the state’s all-time high of 9.6%, posted in March 1983, but is well above the all-time low of 2.7%, set March 2007.
An analysis by industry using non-seasonally adjusted figures highlights the sharp contraction in the construction and other industries within the state. Notably, the several industries have begun to show year-over-year job growth, led by government and education & health services.
Dec 17th
The New York Times recently published a look at Census data by census tract, illustrating topics including income, education, housing and ethnicity. Drilling down on the Treasure Valley is a visually interesting way to view our fair city.
% CHANGE IN MEDIAN HOUSEHOLD INCOME SINCE 2000
% CHANGE IN HOUSEHOLDS SPENDING >30% OF INCOME ON MORTGAGE
DISTRIBUTION OF RACIAL AND ETHNIC GROUPS
Dec 08th
The title of this post is also that of a recent book by Gordon Murray, a former bond salesman turned index fund investing acolyte. The thing that sets Mr. Murray apart, beyond his privileged East Coast upbringing, is that he’s used his final months to write the tome, having ceased treatment for a form of brain cancer.
We are proud to note that Mr. Murray’s recommendations, based on his experience as a consultant for Dimensional Fund Advisors, very closely mimic Harmonic’s strategy.
The story, originally published in New York Times, is here.
The US Bureau of Labor Statistics recently released October 2010 Unemployment data for the 372 metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs) it surveys. According to the BLS the non-seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for the Boise-Nampa MSA was 9.5% for the month of October, an increase of +0.1% from October 2009. Over that period, the number of unemployed workers in the Boise area was unchanged at 27,200, while the labor force fell from 290,200 to 285,700. The unemployment rate rose +0.5% from September 2010.
At 9.5% Boise’s seasonally unadjusted unemployment rate was higher than the national average (9.0%) and remained stubbornly higher than the state average (8.7%) and most other areas surveyed within the state. Boise’s +0.1% year-over-year change in the unemployment rate was also more dramatic than the national average (-0.4%) but smaller than the average of the Idaho cities surveyed (+0.4%).
GRAPH: Bureau of Labor Statistics
In October, 121 of the 372 MSAs had unemployment rates higher than a year earlier and 249 MSAs had lower unemployment rates than Boise. The MSAs with the lowest unemployment rates nationally were Bismarck ND (2.7%) and Fargo ND (3.2%). Those with the highest rates were El Centro CA (29.3%) and Yuma AZ (26.7%).
The largest decrease in the year-over-year rate was seen in Elkhart-Goshen IN (-2.8%) while the largest increases were in Yuma AZ (+4.1%) and Sioux City IA-NE-SD (+1.8%).
GRAPH: Bureau of Labor Statistics
Dec 03th
Brian Greber, director for the Business Research and Economic Development Center, sees cost-of-living calculator as a tool to bring new business to Boise. (photo by Anne Wallace Allen)
Whether it’s tennis balls, a T-bone steak, or a place to live, chances are you’ll find it for less in Idaho.
A new cost-of-living calculator assembled by economists at Boise State University makes it simple to calculate the financial costs and benefits of living and working in Boise, Idaho Falls or Twin Falls.
A pound of Parmesan cheese sets you back $5.50 in Seattle and just $3.94 in Boise. Tennis balls: $3.82 in Seattle vs. $2.38 in Boise. Housing in Boise is 41 percent less expensive, and groceries are 16 percent less. And that T-bone steak is $9.95 in Seattle and just $8.51 in Boise.
The calculator was created by the Business Research and Economic Development Center, or BRED, part of the university’s College of Business and Economics. BRED was created to help local businesses thrive and attract new business.
The cost-of-living calculator is just one small piece of BRED. Ultimately Director Brian Greber hopes the center will be the first place prospective companies look when they want to analyze how Idaho would help their business.
Next up: an economic indicator for the state to show academics, business leaders and the general public where the state’s economy is likely to be four to six months in the future. BRED will use original research for the indicator and also data from state government.
“This has the potential of being an extremely valuable tool for people,” said Kenn Lamson, a principal at the Boise-based Harmonic Investment Advisors who works with Greber on the economic indicator.
Other Idaho groups produce economic outlook forecasts, but there’s not another tool that boils economic growth in the state down to one specific number that is easily accessible, publicly available, and easily understandable, Lamson said.
Eventually BRED will provide economic analysis and research white papers. Greber would like BRED to be the place where the business community looks first for independent economic analysis.
Research is a niche that hasn’t been addressed, said Bill Connors, the president and CEO of the Boise Metro Chamber of Commerce, which also provides technical assistance to businesses. More research would help groups like the Chamber’s Boise Valley Economic Partnership learn how to better attract business, expand existing business, and study what makes business successful in the Treasure Valley, he said.
Idaho has many organizations that provide business advice. Some, such as the Idaho Small Business Development Center, are at Boise State, and BRED steers new and existing businesses toward those resources.
“This initiative is meant to get the resources of the college involved with all the businesses in the valley,” Greber said.
Cost of living lower; wages too
Boise State University’s new Business Research and Economic Development Center, or BRED, is a great place to find out how the cost of living in Idaho measures up against costs in similar-sized cities like Little Rock, Ark. (where prices are similar, though a doctor’s visit will cost 10 percent more in Boise) or Spokane (where most prices match up, though utilities will set you back 13 percent more in Boise).
It’s well known wages are lower in Idaho than in other states. According to 2009 data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Idaho has a mean hourly wage of $18.83 (about $38,000 annually), almost the same as in Little Rock. But while Spokane’s cost of living is similar to Boise’s, pay in Spokane is higher, with a mean hourly wage of $19.72 and a mean annual wage of $41,010.
Business leaders have long said education is a big reason for the wage difference.
“We need to continue to find ways to diversify and improve the labor force to make it attractive to larger-scale industries,” said BRED Director Brian Greber. Institutions like College of Western Idaho, which opened in 2009, help a lot, he said.
“I was shocked when I moved here at the lack of technical education in the state,” Greber said.
Dec 03th
We’ve frequently said that the re-animation of the US consumer is key to reviving the macroeconomy, and that signals to watch are consumer spending and credit creation.
The early signs of this holiday shopping season are encouraging. The Economist magazine reports that so far this season, sales are higher at both “brick-and-mortar” and online stores.
GRAPH: The Economist
November chain store sales were reported better-than-expected, too, +5.8% year-over-year. Here’s hoping it’s sustainable, since today’s employment statistics were less than awe inspiring.
Dec 02th
This clock, courtesy of poodwaddle.com, keeps track of more items than I’ve seen in one place. Interesting, if not immediately useful.
hat tip to InvestmentPostcards.com
Dec 31th
2010 in Pictures
Author: Kenn Lamson
Comments: 0
While I doubt I’ll join the forecasting fray (at least not in print, where it’s incorrect the moment I write it and might be used to nefarious ends), this final day of 2010 offers the opportunity to pass along a few illustrations regarding the year’s markets and economic activity.
The Economist published an excellent review of the main economic and market events of the year, A Year In Nine Pictures. Two dark spots of the US economy, housing and employment, appear among their nine charts.
The New York Times is known as the home of the uber-Keynesian Nobel Laureate Paul Krugman, but they also have a heckuva good graphics team. Here are a few illustrations from Snapshots Of the Economy, which appeared earlier this week.
Joshua Brown, who writes The Reformed Broker blog, keeps a list of annual investing fads that runs back to 1996. Reviewing it’s the investing equivalent of seeing pictures of yourself in neon parachute pants in the 80s or a huge butterfly bowtie in the 70s (sorry, you’ll find no pictures of us dressed like on this website).
If you’re a chart-watcher (I admit to leaning on that discipline from time to time), you may find StockCharts Top 10 Technical Developments in 2010 intriguing. I closely watch the performance of the each economic sector so this graph is both familiar and encouraging.
Finally, one of my favorite resources for online graphics, VisualEconomics, features their best Infographics of 2010. Here’s a snippet of one I could definitely identify with.