Information is the treasure of the current age. The instant access to information since the advent of the Internet has transformed societies in ways that thousands of years prior had not. Information can lead to knowledge, and — with increased knowledge — better efficiencies and way of life. If information is vital, then the presentation of information has also risen to a prominent level. With this, the Utah Department of Workforce Services has made some organizational improvements to its economic webpages. Various economic data categories are not mutually exclusive, but we made an effort to compartmentalize economic data for a better organizational display and navigation. We also added a new feature area that taps into various national data elements and measurements from the Federal Reserve Economic Data (FRED), the database of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. FRED’s added value is national — and Utah — economic indicators. More on FRED’s contribution below.
Depending on the subject, economic data can be categorized as either broad or specific. For example, the demographic makeup of an area and how that impacts an economic structure is a broad-subject approach. Conversely, a current monthly snapshot of the Utah economy, its job growth and unemployment rate is a more specific observation. Our economic webpage has four “portals” through which to “categorize” and search for information. One portal is broad, while the other three are more specific in nature.
Topic Portals
The monthly employment profile just mentioned is a specific
topic and gets its own “portal,” entitled Employment Update. Here, the most
current Utah economic performance can be explored and summarized. The
information found here is what often gets cited in the local news media in
reference to the current Utah job performance and unemployment rate.
The second specific “portal” is labeled Local Insights. This
is a quarterly profile of the Utah economy down to a county level. Each county
is summarized with its own economic performance, including job growth,
unemployment rate, housing starts, taxable sales and other profile variables.
The common theme here is a county-specific approach.
The third specific “portal” is Reports and Analysis.
Workforce Services’ economic forte is the labor market. Things over and above
the everyday reporting on the labor market are presented here. Sometimes we do
special economic studies, other times we will report on specific economic
groups within the labor force, like women or veterans. Anything we do that is
not an often repeated or ongoing report are grouped here.
The final “portal,” and possibly the one that will be most
used, is labeled Economic Data. The core of our data collection and analysis is
concentrated here. Employment data, occupational data, wage information and
demographic profiles are just some of the major economic themes found in this
area.
FRED's on site
As mentioned earlier, we have added an economic indicator
area tapping into FRED, which is a massive compilation of economic data from various
sources — primarily government statistical agencies, but also some nongovernmental
organizations. Workforce Services economists have gone through the list and
selected a handful of the most useful data series for gauging the performance
of Utah’s macro economy and gaining insights into expected trends. Utah
functions within the national economy, so the national economic indicators
profiled here are intended to also be guiding influences on the Utah economy. These
indicators include composite indexes; a recession probability indicator;
leading indicators, such as construction permits and the yield curve;
coincident indicators, such as real GDP and employment; and price indicators,
such as the consumer price index, regional housing prices, and oil and gas
prices. Each chart has a detailed description of what the data represent and
how they may be useful.
Keeping relevant with the fast-changing pace of the Internet
and data presentation is our goal at Workforce Services. We hope these changes
help to better present our broad package of economic data offerings.
