INTERNATIONAL COMPARISONS OF HOURLY COMPENSATION COSTS IN MANUFACTURING, 2010

"Manufacturing hourly compensation costs in the United States in 2010 were lower than in several northern and western European countries, Australia, and Canada, but higher than in the United Kingdom and 19 countries in southern and eastern Europe, Asia, and South America, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today (see chart 1). U.S. hourly compensation costs rose about 2 percent from the previous year to $34.74 (see table 2)..."

Women in the Labor Force: A Databook (2011 Edition)

"This report presents historical and current labor force and earnings data for women and men from the Current Population Survey (CPS). The CPS is a national monthly survey of approximately 60,000 households conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau for the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Unless otherwise noted, data are annual averages from the CPS. For a detailed description of the source of the data and an explanation of concepts and definitions used, see the technical note at the end of this report..."

Your Federal Income Tax Guide for Individuals, 2011

Latest issue of the annual IRS's Your Federal Income Tax Guide for Individuals, 2011 (pdf)(publication 17)

Census Bureau Home Page New Features

"In an effort to improve navigation, improve ease of use and make statistics more discoverable, the U.S. Census Bureau today launched new features on the census.gov home page. Users will now see an economic dashboard with key indicators generated by the Census Bureau prominently located on the upper right. Visitors will also find a new interactive map that shows in-depth business and demographic information for the nation, states and counties. There will also be a “Stat of the Day” highlighting Census Bureau statistics. Navigation has also been improved by grouping links into themes. Those familiar with the features and links such as QuickFacts and the 2010 Population Finder will still find them on the new home page along with a feedback button to provide comments on their overall experience with the new design."

Texas Gains the Most in Population Since the Census

"Texas gained more people than any other state between April 1, 2010, and July 1, 2011 (529,000), followed by California (438,000), Florida (256,000), Georgia (128,000) and North Carolina (121,000), according to the latest U.S. Census Bureau estimates for states and Puerto Rico. Combined, these five states accounted for slightly more than half the nation's total population growth.

"These are the first set of Census Bureau population estimates to be published since the official 2010 Census state population counts were released a year ago,” said Census Bureau Director Robert Groves. “Our nation is constantly changing and these estimates provide us with our first measure of how much each state has grown or declined in total population since Census Day 2010.”

The United States as a whole saw its population increase by 2.8 million over the 15-month period, to 311.6 million. Its growth of 0.92 percent between April 1, 2010, and July 1, 2011, was the lowest since the mid-1940s..."
see state population totals as of July 1, 1011.

Keeping America Informed: the U.S. Government Printing Office

2011 Annual report of the U.S. Government Printing Office.

The Federal Food Safety Working Group Progress Report

"...The federal government has taken important steps to protect an increasingly complex food supply . In March 2009, President Obama created the Food Safety Working Group (FSWG), a central coordinating mechanism for the federal government’s food safety activities that is led by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the U .S . Department of Agriculture (USDA) . The FSWG’s core mission is to strengthen federal efforts and develop short-term and long-term strategies to improve food safety . Partner agencies include HHS’s Food and Drug Administration (FDA), USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS), and HHS’s Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), as well as the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Department of Homeland Security, Department
of Commerce, Department of State, and the Office of the United States Trade Representative . The White House Domestic Policy Council convenes the FSWG..."Federal Food Safety Working Group Progress Report

Leading Health Indicators

"Healthy People 2020 provides a comprehensive set of 10-year, national goals and objectives for improving the health of all Americans. Healthy People 2020 contains 42 topic areas with nearly 600 objectives (with others still evolving), which encompass 1,200 measures. A smaller set of Healthy People 2020 objectives, called Leading Health Indicators, has been selected to communicate high-priority health issues and actions that can be taken to address them..."

No Leisure-time Physical Activity in Adults with Arthritis

"The prevalence of no leisure-time physical activity (LTPA) is much higher among adults with arthritis than those without arthritis, and exceeds ≥30% in 23 states. Efforts to increase physical activity levels in the general population must address the large number of adults with arthritis to be successful..."

Women's Health 2011: A Year in Review

Review of the Centers for Disease Controal and Prevention's contribution to women's health in 2011.

WHAT DRIVES CRUDE OIL PRICES?

"As part of its Energy and Financial Markets Initiative, EIA is assessing the various factors that may influence oil prices — physical market factors as well as those related to trading and financial markets. This website describes 7 key factors that could influence oil markets. The analysis explores possible linkages between each factor and oil prices, and includes regularly-updated graphs that depict aspects of those relationships.

EIA's traditional coverage of physical fundamentals such as energy consumption, production, inventories, spare production capacity, and geopolitical risks continues to be essential. EIA is also assessing other influences, such as futures market trading activity, commodity investment, exchange rates, and equity markets, as it seeks to fully assess energy price movements..."

County Compensation by Industry, 201

"Compensation increased in 2,480 counties and declined in 633 counties in the U.S. in 2010, as the average annual compensation per job increased 2.7 percent to $58,451, according to statistics released today by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA).¹ Total compensation of U.S. workers increased 2.2 percent in 2010, as net job losses partially offset compensation growth.Inflation grew 1.8 percent, as measured by the national price index for personal consumption expenditures..."

United States National Action Plan on Women, Peace, and Security

"The goal of this National Action Plan on Women, Peace, and Security is as simple as it is profound: to empower half the world’s population as equal partners in preventing conflict and building peace in countries threatened and affected by war, violence, and insecurity. Achieving this goal is critical to our national and global security.

Deadly conflicts can be more effectively avoided, and peace can be best forged and sustained, when women become equal partners in all aspects of peace-building and conflict prevention, when their lives are protected, their experiences considered, and their voices heard.

As directed by the Executive Order signed by President Obama entitled Instituting a National Action Plan on Women, Peace, and Security, this Plan describes the course the United States Government will take to accelerate, institutionalize, and better coordinate our efforts to advance women’s inclusion in peace negotiations, peacebuilding activities, and conflict prevention; to protect women from sexual and
gender-based violence; and to ensure equal access to relief and recovery assistance, in areas of conflict and insecurity...

Cookies: Leaving a Trail on the Web

"Have you ever wondered why some online ads you see are targeted to your tastes and interests, or how websites remember your preferences from visit to visit? The answer may be in the “cookies.”

A cookie is information saved by your web browser, the software program you use to visit the web. Cookies can be used by companies that collect, store and share bits of information about your online activities to track your behavior across sites. Cookies also can be used to customize your browsing experience, or to deliver ads targeted to you.

OnGuardOnline.gov wants you to know how cookies are used and how you can control information about your browsing activities. Here are answers to some commonly asked questions about cookies – what they are, what they do, and how you can control them..."

EPA FACT SHEET: Mercury and Air Toxics Standard

"On December 16, 2011, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) finalized the first national Clean Air Act standards to reduce mercury and other toxic air pollution from coal and oil‐fired power plants. The science shows that mercury and toxic air pollution is a threat to public health and has real impacts on people’s lives. This fact sheet provides an overview of the benefits and highlights key impacts..."  

U.S. Arms Sales: Agreements with and Deliveries to Major Clients, 2003-2010

"This report provides background data on U.S. arms sales agreements with and deliveries to its major purchasers during calendar years 2003-2010, made through the U.S. Foreign Military Sales (FMS) program. In a series of data tables, it lists the total dollar values of U.S. governmentto-government arms sales agreements with its top five purchasers, and the total dollar values of U.S. arms deliveries to those purchasers, in five specific regions of the world for three specific periods: 2003-2006, 2007-2010, and 2010 alone. In addition, the report provides data tables
listing the total dollar values of U.S. government-to-government arms agreements with and deliveries to its top 10 purchasers worldwide for the periods 2003-2006, 2007-2010, and for 2010 alone..."

Governmental Tracking of Cell Phones and Vehicles: The Confluence of Privacy, Technology, and Law

"This report will briefly survey Fourth Amendment law as it pertains to the government’s tracking programs. It will then summarize federal electronic surveillance statutes and the case law surrounding cell phone location tracking. Next, the report will describe the GPS-vehicle tracking cases and review the pending Supreme Court GPS tracking case, United States v. Jones. Finally, the report will summarize the geolocation and electronic surveillance legislation introduced in the
112th Congress..."

Department of Energy Releases its 2011 Critical Materials Strategy

"The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) today released the 2011 Critical Materials Strategy. The report examines the role that rare earth metals and other key materials play in clean energy technologies such as wind turbines, electric vehicles, solar cells and energy-efficient lighting. The report found that several clean energy technologies use materials at risk of supply disruptions in the short term, with risks generally decreasing in the medium and long terms. Supply challenges for five rare earth metals (dysprosium, neodymium, terbium, europium and yttrium) may affect clean energy technology deployment in the years ahead..."

Budgetary Effects of the Temporary Payroll Tax Cut Continuation Act of 2011, as Posted on the Website of the House Committee on Rules on December 22, 201

data from the Congressional Budget Office and the staff of the Joint Committee on Taxation.

Homicide Trends in the United States, 1980-2008 Annual Rates for 2009 and 201

"Data in this report are from the FBI’s Supplementary Homicide Reports (SHR), unless otherwise noted. The SHR Program of the FBI collects yearly supplementary homicide data regarding homicides committed in the United States. Statistics in this report detail homicide trends by age, sex, and race, including homicides of children under age 5 and of persons age 65 or older. It examines the relationship between the victim and the off ender, particularly in cases of intimate and family homicide.."

Prisoners in 2010

"The Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) reported today that the number of offenders under adult correctional supervision in the U.S. declined 1.3 percent in 2010, the second consecutive year of decline since BJS began reporting on this population in 1980. At yearend 2010, about 7.1 million people, or 1 in 33 adults, were under the supervision of adult correctional authorities in the U.S.

In addition, the total U.S. prison population fell to 1.6 million at yearend 2010, a decline of 0.6 percent during the year, the first decline in the total prison population in nearly four decades. This decline was due to a decrease of 10,881 in the number of state prisoners, which fell to just under 1.4 million persons and was the largest yearly decrease since 1977. The federal prison population grew by 0.8 percent (1,653 prisoners) to reach 209,771, the smallest percentage increase since 1980..."

Spotlight on Statistics: Automobiles

"The U.S. automobile industry can be viewed as both a barometer and beneficiary of American growth and economic achievement. Supporting that view is the fact that the automobile industry affects industries that manufacture steel, glass, plastics, and rubber, as well as those that refine and sell gasoline, build roads, and maintain, repair, and sell motor vehicles.

Motor vehicles also affect our daily lives. In 2010, on an average day, 67.6 percent of the civilian noninstitutional population aged 15 and over drove; those who drove spent on average 1 hour and 18 minutes driving.."

CBP’s[Customs and Border Patrol] 2011 Fiscal Year in Review

"U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) today released year-end data on fiscal year (FY) 2011 border enforcement and management efforts, highlighting trends that reflect the Administration’s ongoing commitment to securing the border and facilitating legitimate trade and travel through targeted operations, enhanced partnerships and unprecedented deployment of personnel, technology and infrastructure along the border...

U.S. Border Patrol apprehensions—a key indicator of illegal immigration—decreased to 340,252 in FY 2011, down 53 percent since FY 2008 and one fifth of what they were at their peak in FY 2000. Of these apprehensions, 87,334 people had a record in the FBI’s Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System, a law enforcement database of individuals with criminal charges and convictions..."

2010 Report on Ethanol Market Concentration

Federal Trade Commission's 2010 report on the ethanol production industry.

National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey:2010 Summary Report

"This report presents information related to several types of violence that have not previously been measured in a national populationbased survey, including types of sexual violence other than
rape; expressive psychological aggression and coercive control, and control of reproductive or
sexual health. This report also provides the first ever simultaneous national and state-level prevalence estimates of violence for all state..."

Areas with Concentrated Poverty: 2006-2010

"People living in poverty tend to be clustered in certain neighborhoods rather than being evenly distributed across geographic areas. Measuring this concentration of poverty is important because researchers have found that living in areas with many other poor people places burdens on low-income families beyond what the families’ own individual circumstances would dictate. Many argue that this concentration of
poverty results in higher crime rates, underperforming public schools, poor
housing and health conditions, as well as limited access to private services and
job opportunities. In recognition of these burdens, some government programs
target resources to communities with concentrated poverty. Many of these programs use the Census Bureau’s definition of “poverty areas” (census tracts with
poverty rates of 20 percent or more)..."

Native North American Languages Spoken at Home in the United States and Puerto Rico: 2006–201

"This report presents data on the frequency and percentage of the U.S. population aged 5 and over who spoke a Native North American language at home. The data are based on 5-year estimates from the 2006–2010 American Community Survey (ACS) and the 2006–2010 Puerto Rico Community Survey. For the first time ever, this aggregation of ACS data over a 5-year period allows us to study small segments of the population, such as speakers of Native North American languages.."

Custodial Mothers and Fathers and Their Child Support: 2009

"This report focuses on the child support income that custodial parents reported
receiving from noncustodial parents living elsewhere, and other types of support,
such as health insurance and noncash assistance. The most recent data in this report are from the Child Support Supplement to the April 2010 Current Population Survey (CPS). It provides demographic information about custodial parents as of 2010, as well as child support and other income or program data for the 2009 calendar year.."

The Older Population: 2010 ( 2010 Census Brief)

"The older population is an important and growing segment of the United States population. In fact, more people were 65 years and over in 2010 than in any previous census. Between 2000 and 2010, the population 65 years and over increased at a
faster rate (15.1 percent) than the total U.S population (9.7 percent)..."

Model-based Small Area Income & Poverty Estimates (SAIPE) for School Districts, Counties, and States

"The U.S. Census Bureau, with support from other Federal agencies, created the Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates (SAIPE) program to provide more current estimates of selected income and poverty statistics than those from the most recent decennial census.

Estimates are created for school districts, counties, and states. The main objective of this program is to provide updated estimates of income and poverty statistics for the administration of federal programs and the allocation of federal funds to local jurisdictions. Estimates for 2010 were released in November 2011. These estimates combine data from administrative records, intercensal population estimates, and the decennial census with direct estimates from the American Community Survey to provide consistent and reliable single-year estimates..."

Who's Minding the Kids:Child Care Arrangements, Spring 2010

"Among fathers with a wife in the workforce, 32 percent were a regular source of care for their children under age 15, up from 26 percent in 2002, the U.S. Census Bureau reported today. Among these fathers with preschool-age children, one in five fathers was the primary caregiver, meaning their child spent more time in their care than any other type of arrangement.

The series of tables titled Who's Minding the Kids? Child Care Arrangements: Spring 2010 showed that in a typical week, 12.2 million (61 percent) of the 20 million children under age 5 were in some type of regular child care arrangement.

As married women have increasingly moved into the labor force, fathers have become more available for child care while their wives are working..."

Lead Hazards in Some Holiday Toys

"The holiday season is here, and that means many children will be given toys as gifts. While new toys are a holiday tradition, parents should be aware of potential lead hazards associated with toys, including toy jewelry. Review these important facts to keep your children safe this holiday season.

Lead is invisible to the naked eye and has no smell. Children may be exposed to it from consumer products through normal handling of the product. They often place toys and other objects, as well as their fingers that have touched these objects, in their mouth, which exposes them to lead paint or dust.

Lead in Toys

Toys that have been made in other countries and then imported into the United States, or antique toys or collectibles passed down through generations; often contain lead that puts children at risk for such exposure. To reduce these risks, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) issues recalls of toys that could potentially expose children to lead. Learn more at..."

Secondhand Smoke and Children

"These brochures will educate those who care for children (birth to 11 years of age) on the health dangers of secondhand smoke (SHS). The goal is to deliver culturally relevant information to various populations that will motivate them to reduce SHS exposure to children by making their homes and cars smoke-free."

Role of Hydroelectric Power in the United States

"Conventional hydroelectric generators of varying capacity operated in 48 states in 2010. Operating expenses for hydroelectric generators are lower than for most other forms of electricity generation but facilities are limited by geography and operations are subject to seasonal constraints. There is a large concentration of capacity in the Pacific Northwest, contributing to low wholesale and retail electricity prices in that region, especially in the spring runoff season..."

Peer-to-Peer:Violence and Bullying:Examining the Federal Reponse

"Based on the evidence gathered by the Commission, we conclude that despite the harm that
peer-to-peer bullying and harassment due to a student‘s membership in certain classes, such
as race, religion, or sexual orientation, current federal laws (and the laws of many states) do
not fully protect all students from peer-to-peer bullying and harassment resulting from
animus toward their group status.

Specifically, the Commission‘s findings, by majority vote, are:

1. Bullying and harassment, including bullying and harassment based on sex, race, national
origin, disability, sexual orientation, or religion, are harmful to American youth.

2. Current federal civil rights laws do not provide the U.S. Department of Education with
jurisdiction to protect students from peer-to-peer harassment that is solely on the basis of
religion.

3. The current federal civil rights laws do not protect students from peer-to-peer
harassment that is solely on the basis of sexual orientation..."

HealthCare.gov Insurance Finder Gets Better for Consumers

"On Monday, November 15, 2010, the Department of Health and Human Services updated the HealthCare.gov Insurance Finder with more information on private insurance plans.

Created under the Affordable Care Act, www.HealthCare.gov was launched July 1, 2010, and is the first website of its kind to bring information about private and public health coverage options into one place to make it easy for consumers to learn about and compare their insurance choices.

HealthCare.gov and its Insurance Finder are critical new tools for consumers, making the health insurance market more transparent than it has ever been.

On October 1, the Insurance Finder added price estimates for private insurance policies for individuals and families, allowing consumers to easily compare health insurance plans – putting consumers, not their insurance companies, in charge and taking much of the guesswork and confusion out of buying insurance..."

Vital Signs: HIV Prevention Through Care and Treatment — United States

"Background: An estimated 1.2 million persons in the United States were living with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection in 2008. Improving survival of persons with HIV and reducing transmission involve a continuum of services that includes diagnosis (HIV testing), linkage to and retention in HIV medical care, and ongoing HIV prevention interventions, including appropriately timed antiretroviral therapy (ART).

Methods: CDC used three surveillance datasets to estimate recent HIV testing and HIV prevalence among U.S. adults by state, and the percentages of HIV-infected adults receiving HIV care for whom ART was prescribed, who achieved viral suppression, and who received prevention counseling from health-care providers. Published data were used to estimate the numbers of persons in the United States living with and diagnosed with HIV and, based on viral load and CD4 laboratory reports, linked to and retained in HIV care.

Results: In 2010, 9.6% of adults had been tested for HIV during the preceding 12 months (range by state: 4.9%–29.8%). Of the estimated 942,000 persons with HIV who were aware of their infection, approximately 77% were linked to care, and 51% remained in care. Among HIV-infected adults in care, 45% received prevention counseling, and 89% were prescribed ART, of whom 77% had viral suppression. Thus, an estimated 28% of all HIV-infected persons in the United States have a suppressed viral load..."

Recent Studies Show EPA Air Rules Do Not Threaten Electric Reliabilit

"In November 2011, the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) and M.J. Bradley and
Associates each released updated studies evaluating the effects of existing and upcoming EPA
regulations to control pollution from power plants. These assessments are still based in large part on proposed, rather than final rules. Nevertheless, they provide substantial assurance that the nation can achieve significant air quality improvements from cleaning up old polluting power plants without threatening the reliability of electricity supplies.."

FTC Issues The FY 2011 National Do Not Call Registry Data Book

"The Federal Trade Commission today issued the National Do Not Call Registry Data Book for Fiscal Year 2011. The FTC's National Do Not Call Registry provides consumers with an easy way to stop unwanted telemarketing calls. In its third year of publication, the Data Book contains a wealth of information about the Registry for FY 2011, including:

The number of active registrations and consumer complaint figures since the Registry began in 2003;
FY 2011 complaint figures by month and complaint type;
FY 2011 registration and complaint figures for all 50 states and the District of Columbia by population;
The number of entities accessing the Registry by fiscal year; and
An appendix on registration and complaint data by consumer state and area code..."

Identity Theft Reported by Households, 2005-2010

"In 2010, 7.0% of households in the United States, or about 8.6 million households, had at least
one member age 12 or older who experienced one or more types of identity theft victimization (fi gure 1). This percentage was similar to the 7.3% of households that experienced identity theft in 2009. However, it represented an increase from the 5.5% of households, or 6.4 million households, that were victims of one or more types of identity theft in 2005..."

Food Recovery Challenge

"How much of your food and money are you literally throwing away? The Food Recovery Challenge, a Sustainable Materials Management Initiative, challenges participants to reduce as much of their food waste as possible — saving money, helping communities, and protecting the environment..."