Paul Overberg of USA Today presents "Finding stories in Census Bureau data," part of a free, multi-session workshop sponsored by the Donald W. Reynolds National Center for Business Journalism in Louisville, Ky. For more information on free training for journalists, please visit businessjournalism.org.

1. Breaking Local Stories
Title SlideData
with Economic
U.S. Census Bureau

2. Paul
Overberg
Paul Overberg, a database editor at USA TODAY, finds
news in all kinds of data. He focuses on who the
American people are and how they live -- their
demographics. That includes income in all of its many
forms; their lack of income, or poverty; and their jobs,
the primary source of income for most people.
Through IRE/NICAR, he often helps local reporters
learn about this kind of data. He also has worked as a
science and health editor and as a local reporter and
business editor. poverberg@usatoday.com
@poverberg

3. Where we’re headed
Real news stories
using Census data on:
• Establishments
• Number of employees
• Size of payroll
• Breakdowns by industry, size and
age of establishment
• Worker demographics
• How to find each type of data Photo by Flickr user Rosipaw
• How to turn data → stories!

4. Firms with no
employees
“There are more than 21 million
businesses ...with no employees,
according to the U.S. Census Bureau
drawing on IRS data. In Orange
County, the number is around
250,000. ...” -- Jan Norman, Orange
County Register, March 12, 2012

5. Firms with no employees
Start here: census.gov/econ/nonemployer
• Use highlighted metro
dropdown menu to choose census.gov/econ/nonemployer
"Louisville/Jefferson
County."

6. Firms with no employees
Drill for detail or compare to
other areas.
• Data from IRS (tax returns)
• Counting difficulties!

7. Firms with no employees 40%
Change
in
small
firms
in
metro
Louisville,
2006-­‐10
• Best used for trends
30%
• Note trend in metro
Louisville through and Change
in
sales
(receipts) Education
20%
after Great Recession Health
care Arts/recreation
10%
Wholesaling Administration
Real
estate
0%
-­‐40% -­‐30% -­‐20% -­‐10% 0% 10% 20% 30%
Farming Hotels/food
services
Manufacturing
Retailing
-­‐10%
Finance
and
Utilities insurance
-­‐20%
Mining
Construction -­‐30%
Change
in
number
of
firms

8. Video: Finding Economic Census data
How to find detailed
Economic Census
data in American
FactFinder
• Look up data from
2002 and 2007.
• Think about 2012
data coming later this
year and next.

9. Economic Census
• 2012 Economic Census under way • Good for long trends
• Most local data coming in 2014 • Good for small areas

10. Economic Census
“... Somerville’s stores
dominated Somerset County
retailing before slipping badly
in the 1974-75 recession. ...
Bellomo said ... stores cannot
match burgeoning commercial
strips in Hillsborough, Green
Brook and North Plainfield.”
-- The (Bridgewater, N.J.)
Courier-News, March 12, 1981

11. Economic Census
Basics:
• Number of establishments
• Sales
• Annual payroll, Q1 payroll
• Paid employees
Keep in mind:
• Where people work, not
where they live
• Establishments, not firms
Photo by Flickr user rutlo

12. County Business Patterns
“... There were 198 funeral homes
in Maryland in 2010 ... 18 fewer
homes than ... in 2002.”
-- Jack Lambert, Aug. 3, 2012,
Baltimore Business Journal

13. County Business Patterns
• Start here:
census.gov/econ/cbp
• Use highlighted
dropdown to get
metro Louisville

14. Video: Gauging local industrial diversity
How County Business
Patterns data can help
you gauge the diversity
-- and the health -- of
local industries

15. Quarterly Workforce Indicators
“A study released this
week by the Ewing
Marion Kauffman
Foundation found ... the
job creation and hiring
rate in firms less than 2
years old has outpaced
that of more established
firms since 2008. ...” --
Diane Stafford, Nov. 30,
2012, Kansas City Star

16. Quarterly Workforce Indicators
• Start here:
lehd.did.census.gov
• Click here:
lehd.ces.census.gov/
datatools/qwiapp.html
• Choose Kentucky
• Choose Jefferson
County

17. Quarterly Workforce Indicators
• Is Jefferson County
doing as well as Kentucky
at this point in the
recovery?

18. Local building permits
“... The Elkhart housing
market hit a trough in
building permits at the end of
April 2009, and the South
Bend housing market hit that
trough at the end of
November 2011. ...”
-- Feb. 8, 2013, Justin Leighty,
The Elkhart Truth

19. Local building permits
Start here:
census.gov/construction/bps
• Click either highlighted link.
• Make dropdown selections.

20. Local building permits
“Browse” option
opens new
window with data
for that row from
every county/city
in that state.

21. Local building permits
• "Metro" option opens
text file to use in
spreadsheet.
• Note link structure for
December 2012:
census.gov/
construction/bps/txt/ census.gov/construction/bps/txt/tb3u201212.txt
tb3u201212.txt

22. Questions?
Thanks for coming!
Paul Overberg
USA Today
poverberg@usatoday
Twitter: @poverberg Photo by Flickr user Xurble