U.S. Economic Indicators
The Latest Analysis
Current Expertise Basis for Proposed Teacher Licensing
by Michael J. Hicks
At the high school level, U.S. student performance has plunged to the bottom of the developed world.
One steadfast way of gauging the effect of proposed policy changes is to see who lines up against them. Take for example State School Superintendent Tony Bennett’s recommended changes to teacher and administrator licensing rules. Dr. Bennett proposes that applicants for teacher licenses have more education on content areas (like math and science) at the expense of coursework on how students learn (pedagogy).
This proposal has mightily discomfited the educational establishment. The focus from these folks has been overwhelmingly focused on how the new rules would inconvenience those who plan and administer teacher education. The dean of at least one state teacher’s college even went so far as to express concern on how it would trouble his school’s curriculum!
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Recently Released Studies from the CBER
Cultural Tourism in Indiana: The
Impact and Clustering of the Arts and Creative Sectors in This Recession
This report documents the economic benefits of cultural tourism in
Indiana and the density patterns of the state's tourism-related sectors.
Full
Report
2009 Manufacturing and Logistics
Report Card
The 2009 Manufacturing and Logistics Report Card grades states in
six areas of the economy that underlie the success of manufacturing and
logistics in each state. These include specific measures of
manufacturing and logistics health, human capital, the cost of benefits,
the global position of the industries, state level productivity and
innovation and tax climate.
Full Report
Data Releases
Retail Sales, October 2009
Advance estimates of
U.S. retail and food services sales for October, adjusted for seasonal
variation and holiday and trading-day differences, but not for price
changes, were $347.5 billion, an increase of 1.4 percent from the
previous month, but 1.7 percent below October 2008. Total sales for the
August through October 2009 period were up 1.5 percent from the same
period a year ago. The August to September 2009 percent change was
revised from -1.5 percent to -2.3 percent.
Producer Price Indexes,
October 2009
The Producer
Price Index for Finished Goods advanced 0.3 percent in October,
seasonally adjusted. This increase followed a 0.6-percent decline in
September and a 1.7-percent rise in August. In October, at the earlier
stages of processing, prices received by manufacturers of intermediate
goods moved up 0.3 percent and the crude goods index increased 5.4
percent. On an unadjusted basis, from October 2008 to October 2009,
prices for finished goods fell 1.9 percent, the eleventh consecutive
month of year-over-year declines.
Industrial Production
Indexes, October 2009
Industrial
production increased 0.1 percent in October after having averaged
monthly gains of about 0.9 percent over the previous three months.
Manufacturing production moved down 0.1 percent and the output of mines
decreased 0.2 percent, but the index for utilities rose 1.6 percent. At
98.6 percent of its 2002 average, total industrial production was 7.1
percent below its level of a year earlier. Capacity utilization for
total industry moved up 0.2 percentage point to 70.7 percent, a rate
10.2 percentage points below its average for 1972 through 2008, and
capacity utilization for manufacturing was unchanged at 67.6 percent.
Consumer Price Index,
October 2009
On a seasonally
adjusted basis, the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U)
rose 0.3 percent in October. The index has decreased 0.2 percent over
the last 12 months on a not seasonally adjusted basis.
Housing Starts, October
2009
Privately-owned
housing units authorized by building permits in October were at a
seasonally adjusted annual rate of 552,000. This is 4.0 percent below
the revised September rate of 575,000 and is 24.3 percent below the
October 2008 estimate of 729,000. Single-family authorizations in
October were at a rate of 451,000; this is 0.2 percent below the revised
September figure of 452,000. Authorizations of units in buildings with
five units or more were at a rate of 85,000 in October. Privately-owned
housing starts in October were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of
529,000. This is 10.6 percent below the revised September estimate of
592,000 and is 30.7 percent below the October 2008 rate of 763,000.
Single-family housing starts in October were at a rate of 476,000; this
is 6.8 percent below the revised September figure of 511,000. The
October rate for units in buildings with five units or more was 48,000.
U.S. Index of Leading
Economic Indicators, October 2009
The Leading Economic Index
(LEI) for the U.S. increased 0.3 percent in
October, following a 1.0 percent gain in September, and a 0.4 percent
rise in August. The Coincident Economic
Index (CEI) for the U.S. was unchanged in October, following a
0.1 percent decline in September, and a 0.1 percent increase in August.
The Lagging Economic Index(LAG)
declined 0.2 percent in October, following a 0.5 percent decline in
September, and a 0.4 percent decline in August.
Regional Employment and
Unemployment, October 2009
Total Employment
Manufacturing Employment
Unemployment Rate
Indiana Household Employment, October 2009
Indiana Establishment
Employment, October 2009
Total Employment
Manufacturing Employment