The number of job openings in California for STEM (science, technology, engineering, math) jobs decreased from 73,005 in July 2014 to 71,821 in August 2014. The searcher-to-job opening ratio also decreased from 1.69 to 1.57 in the same span.
Our definition of STEM jobs: http://www.employstats.com/blog/2014/09/19/growing-national-interest-in-stem-fields-has-focused-our-research/
Source: BLS
Image source: http://fairmountinc.com/help-wanted-1-2-million-good-paying-jobs-available/
Summary of our preliminary research of VA hospital wait times
VA hospital wait times have become an important issue in the U.S. as more and more Vets re-enter civilian life. In our study, which we co-author with Economics Professor, Dr. Peter Claeys of Universitat de Barcelona, we found the following preliminary results:
Overall, across established and new patients, VA wait times are actually not that out of line with other types of hospitals
The really long wait times for established and new patients are concentrated at a few hospitals
The major problem is getting enrolled
VA staffing levels matters
In our upcoming posts we will expand on each of these points and make our data and program files available to interested researchers.
Retail sales over the internet continue to increase in the U.S.
Internet sales, or as the Commerce department puts it: sales of goods and services where an order is placed by the buyer or price and terms of sale are negotiated over an Internet, extranet, Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) network electronic mail, or other online system, have increased over 15% each year of the last three years.
E-Commerce now makes up about 6% of all retail sales in the U.S.
Source: http://www2.census.gov/retail/releases/historical/ecomm/
| Time Period | E-commerce Sales | Change from previous year |
| 2013 Q4 | 83,709 | 17.0% |
| 2012 Q4 | 71,554 | 15.8% |
| 2011 Q4 | 61,789 | 17.5% |
| 2010 Q4 | 52,567 |
.
Median rent rose in San Antonio from July 2014 to August 2014; it fell in both Laredo and Corpus Christi during the same span.
Median house prices for all three MSAs (metropolitan statistical areas) fell from July 2014 to August 2014.
Image source: http://www.asemooni.com/news/economic-news/the-president-agreed-with-the-increase-in-housing
In this case, the charging party, the plaintiff, alleges that that the defendant unlawfully suspended a work contract. The plaintiffs had a $10.5 million, 3 year contract with the defendant to install and maintain machinery at a pipe manufacturing facility.
The plaintiff alleges that after the defendant unlawfully solicited and hired its key employee to come and work for the defendant, the defendant then terminated the contract. The plaintiff further alleges that the defendant used the former employees of the plaintiff, and the confidential knowledge that they possessed, to complete the install and maintenance of the multimillion dollar pipe making machinery. The plaintiffs financial records indicated that had performed about 1/3 of the work spelled out in the business contract.
In this instance, the value of the remaining portion of the contract is calculated under two different ‘but-for’ contract breach scenarios. The but-for scenario calculates the profits that the plaintiff would have received but-for the defendant’s alleged breach of contract.
In the first but-for scenario, the profit from the remaining portion of the business contract is calculated as the lost profit from the remaining items of spelled out in the contract. The lost profit is determined by calculating the estimated revenue from the remaining items and subtracting the expected incremental cost associated with the performance of the contract.
In the second but-for scenario, the after-incremental expense profits are calculated based on the items that were actually installed by the vendors that the defendant utilized following the termination of the contract with the plaintiff.
The consumer price index (CPI) went down from 37.909 in July 2014 to 237.428 in August 2014, an annualized rate of 1.79%.
The price index for medical care commodities went up at an annualized rate of 1.45% from July 2014 to August 2014. During the same period, the price index for hospital and related services went up at an annualized rate of 1.32%, whereas medical care services and professional services went down at an annualized rate of 0.46% and 3.04%, respectively.
Source: BLS
Image source: http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-54762670/stock-photo-background-concept-illustration-consumer-price-index.html
Crude oil price decreased from $98.23 per barrel in July 2014 to $97.86 per barrel in August 2014. Natural gas price went up from $3.78 per million BTU (one million BTU is approximately 974 cubic feet) in July 2014 to $4.04 per million BTU in August 2014.
Texas crude oil production for July 2014 was 69,573,013 barrels, down from 70,108,403 barrels reported in April 2014. Texas natural gas production was 632,494,096 Mcf (thousand cubic feet) of gas in July 2014, down from the June 2014 gas production total of 639,345,631 Mcf.
Sources: eia.gov, rrc.state.tx.us
The number of job openings in Texas for nurses, therapists, and physician assistants increased from 9,298 to 10,068 from June 2014 to July 2014. The searcher-to-job opening ratio decreased from 1.52 to 1.48 during that same span.
Source: BLS
Image source: http://www.carrollhs.org/s/1253/index.aspx?pgid=877
The number of job openings in Texas increased from 343,517 in June 2014 to 368,784 in July 2014. The median number of job searchers per job opening across all MSAs (metropolitan statistical areas) and occupations in Texas was 1.47 in June 2014 and 1.42 in July 2014.
Source: BLS
The health care and social assistance industry gained 10,900 jobs from July 2014 to August 2014. Compared to August 2013, the cumulative number of jobs added in this industry is 33,200, an annual increase of 2.5%.
Source: Tracer
Image source: http://blogs.wsj.com/health/2012/01/06/health-care-sector-adds-jobs-as-overall-employment-picture-looks-healthier/