Author: Dwight Steward, Ph.D.

Dr. Steward regularly writes and speaks on topics involving business and individual economic damages, employment audits, and the analysis of payroll and time data in wage and hour investigations. Dr. Steward has also held teaching positions at The University of Texas-Austin in the Department of Economics and in the Red McCombs School of Business, The College of Business at Sam Houston State University, and at The University of Iowa. He has taught numerous courses in statistics, corporate finance, labor economics, business policies, managerial economics, and microeconomics.

California STEM job openings increased from May 2014 to June 2014

stemSTEM_2014_06The number of job openings in California for STEM (science, technology, engineering, math) jobs from 68,073 in May 2014 to 68,752 in June 2014, while the searcher-to-job opening ratio increased from 1.30 to 1.69 in the same span.

Image source: http://fairmountinc.com/help-wanted-1-2-million-good-paying-jobs-available/

A closer look at Bad Ink: Visible Tattoos and Recidivism study by Kaitlyn Hartger

Review of Kaitlyn Hartger’s ‘Bad Ink: Visible Tattoos and Recidivism‘

by Dwight Steward, Ph.D.

Kaitlyn Hartger’s study ‘A closer look at Bad Ink: Visible Tattoos and Recidivism study by Kaitlyn Hartger’ is intriguing and adds quite a bit to the existing literature on recidivism and the factors related to reincarnation.

Generally, the paper uses data from  Florida Department of Corrections (FDOC) Offender Based
Information System (OBIS) to study the recidivism of inmates with and without tattoos.  Hartger goes further with her unique data set, further classifies the potential visibility of the inmates tattoo to a potential employer.

1-recid

She finds that tattoos do matter.  Having a tattoo cuts the survival rate, i.e. the likelihood of the inmate not returning to incarceration, in half.  In her data, the average inmate survives approximately 13.5 years ‘on the outside’ where as an inmate with tattoos has a survival rate of 5.8 years.  The impact is even larger for inmates with tattoos that may be potentially visible to employers.

The figure above shows the estimated impact of having a tattoo on recidivism rates.

Overall, the paper makes three main contributions.

  • The sample is more extensive than those used in most previous research
  • The use of more robust measures of visibility sheds light on which tattoo locations matter most for employment
  • Her use of a survival methodology allows for the study if both the timing of recidivism and the factors that impact recidivism

 

Texas STEM job openings decreased from May 2014 to June 2014

STEM logoSTEM_2014_06

The number of job openings in Texas for STEM (science, technology, engineering, math) jobs increased from 12,335 in May 2014 to 12,612 in June 2014, while the searcher-to-job opening ratio increased from 0.68 to 1.02 in the same span.

Image source: http://projecttomorrowblog.blogspot.com/2013/11/i-am-scientist.html

States raising their minimum wage in 2014

The following states raised their minimum wage in 2014:

Connecticut: Connecticut’s hourly minimum wage will increase incrementally to $10.10 over the next three years.

Delaware: Delaware’s minimum wage will increase to $8.25 an hour, effective June 1, 2015.

Hawaii: Hawaii’s minimum wage will increase to $10.10 per hour over the next four years.

Maryland: Maryland raised its minimum wage to $10.10 an hour by July 2018

Massachusetts: A new law will gradually raise the minimum wage in the state to $11 per hour by 2017,

Michigan: A new law will increase the state’s minimum hourly wage to $9.25 per hour by Jan. 1, 2018

Minnesota: The state’s minimum wage increased on Aug. 1, 2014, to $8 per hour for large employers (>$500k in gross sales).  to $9.50 on Aug. 1, 2016. Beginning in 2018, the wage will be indexed to inflation to a maximum increase of 2.5 percent per year.

Rhode Island: The state’s minimum wage will increase to $9 per hour, effective Jan. 1, 2015.

Vermont: The state’s minimum wage will rise to $10.50 an hour by 2018.  After 2018, annual cost-of-living increases of either 5 percent or if it is lower, a rate calculated by the federal Department of Labor annually that is tied to the consumer price index.

West Virginia: The state’s hourly minimum wage will increase to $8 on Jan. 1, 2015, and increase to $8.75 the following Jan. 1, 2016.

Washington, D.C.: The Minimum Wage Amendment Act of 2013 will increase the district’s minimum hourly wage in three steps to $11.50 by July 1, 2016

-See more at: http://www.shrm.org/legalissues/stateandlocalresources/pages/states-minimum-wage-2014.aspx#sthash.YFK7jjgC.dpuf

 

Medical care commodities inflate at a higher rate than general inflation from June 2014 to July 2014

cpigeneral_inflation_2014_07             The consumer price index (CPI) went up from 237.693 in June 2014 to 237.909 in July 2014, an annualized rate of 1.09%. medical_commodities_2014_07 medical_services_2014_07 The price index for medical care commodities went up at an annualized rate of 3.99% from June 2014 to July 2014. During the same period, the price index for medical care services and hospital and related services went up at an annualized rate of 1.44% and 5.01%, respectively, whereas professional services went down at an annualized rate of 0.59%. Image source: http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-54762670/stock-photo-background-concept-illustration-consumer-price-index.html

Percentages, rates of increases, and change factors: what’s the difference?

One question that comes up all the time in our work is what is the difference between a percentage change and a rate of increase?  Answer:  They are the same idea, just expressed differently.  For instance, if you say the price of oil increased  by 100% that is the same as saying that the price of oil doubled.

So mathematically, the 100% increase is equal to a 2.0 times increase.  So generally, you can subtract one from a change factor (i.e. 2.0 times higher) to get the percentage increase.