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.

Top 3 occupations with the most new job openings in Texas for Apr

The top three occupations with the most new job openings in Texas for the month of April were Driver/Sales Workers and Truck Drivers with 1,043 new openings, Secretaries and Administrative Assistants with 1,047 new openings, and Elementary and Middle School Teachers with 1,130 new openings.

April 2015

Occupation Total Openings New Openings
Driver/Sales Workers and Truck Drivers 7,031 1,043
Secretaries and Administrative Assistants 6,299 1,047
Elementary and Middle School Teachers 4,564 1,130

Source: BLS

California innovation job openings increased from Mar to Apr

innovation

The number of job openings in California for “Innovation Type Jobs” increased from 24,870 in March 2015 to 29,183 in April 2015. The searcher-to-job opening ratio also increased from 0.54 to 1.34 in the same span.

Innovation jobs definition: http://www.employstats.com/blog/2014/09/26/1233/

innovation_2015_04

Image source: http://www.bizjournals.com/sacramento/news/2013/09/23/symposium-innovation-ecosystems-jobs-wea.html

Texas healthcare jobs increased by 0.5% from Feb to Mar

healthcare

The health care and social assistance industry gained 7,000 jobs from February 2015 to March 2015. Compared to March 2014, the cumulative number of jobs added in this industry is 49,900, an annual increase of 3.8%.

Source:http://www.tracer2.com/admin/uploadedPublications/2133_TLMR-March_15.pdf

Image source: http://blogs.wsj.com/health/2012/01/06/health-care-sector-adds-jobs-as-overall-employment-picture-looks-healthier/

New Mexican Migrant data

Update of our Mexican work life paper on the way!

We’re pleased to let you know that we have released our most current database: MMP150.  The MMP150 database consists of 150 communities, which includes the original 143 communities plus 7 new additional communities: 4 from the state of Jalisco and 3 from the state of Puebla.  MMP150 – PERS file provides individual level data for 157,879 persons;  the MMP150 – MIG file provides detailed information about 8,052 heads of households with migration experience to the U.S; and the MMP150 – HOUSE file provides information about 24,989 households.   The COMMUN file now provides homicide rates at the municipio level from 1990 to 2013.

 MMP150 databases are available in SAS, Stata, SPSS, and also on CSV. To access these datasets, please visit the OPR’s archive webpage.  We will be updating both the NATLYEAR and NATLHIST files over the summer.

http://mmp.opr.princeton.edu/databases/dataoverview-en.aspx

Median rent prices rose for three largest Eagle Ford Shale MSAs in Jan

housing

 

Median rent rose in San Antonio, Laredo, and Corpus Christi from January 2015 to February 2015.

rent_2015_02

Median house prices for all three MSAs (metropolitan statistical areas) rose from January 2015 to February 2015.

house_2015_02

 

Image source: http://www.asemooni.com/news/economic-news/the-president-agreed-with-the-increase-in-housing

CPI rose while medical care commodities and medical services fell from Jan to Feb

cpi

general_inflation_2015_02The consumer price index (CPI) went up from 234.677 in January 2015 to 235.186 in February 2015, an annualized rate of 2.60%.

medical_commodities_2015_02 medical_services_2015_02

The price index for medical care commodities went down at an annualized rate of 0.06% from January 2015 to February 2015. During the same period, the price index decreased for medical care services (2.31%), hospital and related services (2.32%), and professional services (1.86%).

Source: BLS

Image source: http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-54762670/stock-photo-background-concept-illustration-consumer-price-index.html

Texas healthcare jobs increased by 0.2% from Jan to Feb

healthcare

The health care and social assistance industry gained 3,000 jobs from January 2015 to February 2015. Compared to February 2014, the cumulative number of jobs added in this industry is 43,500, an annual increase of 3.3%.

Source:http://www.tracer2.com/admin/uploadedPublications/2133_TLMR-March_15.pdf

Image source: http://blogs.wsj.com/health/2012/01/06/health-care-sector-adds-jobs-as-overall-employment-picture-looks-healthier/

California job openings decreased from Dec to Jan

The number of job openings in California decreased from 436,019 in December 2014 to 425,877 in January 2015. The median number of job searchers per job opening across all MSAs (metropolitan statistical areas) and occupations in California was 0.98 in December 2014 and 1.77 in January 2015.

CA_2015_01
Source: BLS

Texas job openings by major occupational group for January

Texas January 2015

Total number of job openings and median searcher-to-job ratio across all MSAs (metropolitan statistical areas) for each major occupational group in Texas in January 2015.

Occupation Job Openings Searchers-to-Job Ratio
Management, business, and financial occupations 56,662 0.58
Professional and related occupations 83,549 0.67
Office and administrative support occupations 55,482 0.89
Sales and related occupations 30,126 1.18
Service occupations 64,965 1.42
Installation, maintenance, and repair occupations 18,437 1.48
Transportation and material moving occupations 19,703 1.67
Production occupations 21,721 2.09
Farming, fishing, and forestry occupations 937 5.4
Construction and extraction occupations 14,583 5.44

Source: BLS