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Ten Thousand Commandments

The Unintended Consequences of Minimum Wage Hikes

How to Make the BLS Better

Would Markets Have Handled the Vaccine Rollout Better Than Government?

The Distorted Minimum Wage Debate

The Blog

GDP by metropolitan area and component

08

Feb

GDP by metropolitan area and component

An interactive visualization of gross domestic product by metropolitan area and industry. The Bureau of Economic Analysis, an agency of the United States Department of Commerce, gathers data about economic output, known as gross domestic product. The visualization I have created presents this data in tabular and graphic form. (more…)

National employment, January 2021

06

Feb

National employment, January 2021

The unemployment rate fell in January 2021, but job growth was weak, and the December value was revised. The Bureau of Labor Statistics, part of the United States Department of Labor, reported the closely-followed jobs number rose in January 2021 by 49,000 jobs from the prior month. The unemployment rate fell from 6.7 percent to 6.4 percent. BLS notes that the total nonfarm employment level is "below its February 2020 level by 9.9 million, or 6.5 percent." The summary report from BLS may be found here. Of note: BLS revised recent figures, which it does as more data becomes available.…

Kansas unemployment claims trending lower

05

Feb

Kansas unemployment claims trending lower

A visualization of unemployment insurance claims by state, adjusted for population, shows Kansas as having a high number of claims, but trending lower. (more…)

Wichita jobs and employment, December 2020

03

Feb

Wichita jobs and employment, December 2020

For the Wichita metropolitan area in December 2020, the number of unemployed persons is up, the unemployment rate is up, and the number of people working is down when compared to the same month one year ago. The recent trend, however, is mixed. (more…)

Kansas tax revenue, January 2021

02

Feb

Kansas tax revenue, January 2021

For January 2021, total Kansas tax revenue was 9.7 percent greater than January 2020. Over the seven months of the current fiscal year, tax revenue is 15.5 percent higher than at the same point of the previous fiscal year. (more…)

Kansas agency revenue

30

Jan

Kansas agency revenue

Data regarding State of Kansas agency revenue presented in an interactive visualization, with data through fiscal year 2020. The source of this data is KanView, the Kansas transparency portal, through its download center. Data from multiple years are combined into one database. Data starts with fiscal year 2011. (more…)

Kansas agency expenditures

30

Jan

Kansas agency expenditures

Data regarding State of Kansas agency spending presented in an interactive visualization. The source of this data is KanView, the Kansas transparency portal, through its download center. Data from multiple years are combined into one database. Data starts with fiscal year 2011. (more…)

Effects of pandemic on employment in states

26

Jan

Effects of pandemic on employment in states

The effects of the response to the pandemic vary widely among the states. (more…)

Kansas jobs, December 2020

26

Jan

Kansas jobs, December 2020

In Kansas for December 2020, the labor force shrank while the number of people working rose, resulting in a drop in the unemployment rate. Data released today from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, part of the United States Department of Labor, shows a mixed employment picture in Kansas for December 2020. (more…)

Visualization: Kansas 2020 presidential election

22

Jan

Visualization: Kansas 2020 presidential election

An interactive visualization of the 2020 general election for president in Kansas, at the precinct level. (more…)

Kansas economic dashboard

20

Jan

Kansas economic dashboard

Charts of economic indicators for Kansas, compared to the nation and surrounding states. (more…)

Kansas unemployment claims are high and rising

19

Jan

Kansas unemployment claims are high and rising

A visualization of unemployment insurance claims by state, adjusted for population, shows Kansas as an outlier among states. The number of people filing for unemployment insurance each week is a useful indicator of the condition of the economy. I present this data for each state and the nation in an interactive visualization. Because states vary widely in their population (the most populous state has 68 times the population of the least populous), I've cast the data as claims per thousand residents of each state. (more…)

Wichita economic dashboard

17

Jan

Wichita economic dashboard

Charts of economic indicators for Wichita, compared to Kansas and the United States. (more…)

Trump-supporting QAnon seen as public security threat

17

Jan

Trump-supporting QAnon seen as public security threat

QAnon, a conspiracy theory group mentioned favorably by President Donald J. Trump and embraced by other Republican leaders, represents a public security threat, according to the Combating Terrorism Center at West Point. Originally published August 23, 2020. In light of recent events, it seems the authors were prescient. (more…)

Wichita property tax rate: Up

15

Jan

Wichita property tax rate: Up

The City of Wichita property tax mill levy rose slightly for 2020. In 1994 the City of Wichita mill levy rate -- the rate at which real and personal property is taxed -- was 31.290. In 2020 it was 32.749, based on the Sedgwick County Clerk. That's an increase of 1.459 mills, or 4.66 percent, since 1994. (These are for taxes levied by the City of Wichita only, and do not include any overlapping jurisdictions.) (more…)

Zip code business patterns

13

Jan

Zip code business patterns

Employment, establishment count, and annual payroll presented in an interactive visualization. In the program County Business Patterns (CBP), the United States Census Bureau produces estimates of business activity. Data regarding employment, establishment count, and annual payroll is available for several geographies, including zip codes. I've gathered this data and present it in an interactive visualization. (more…)