New Tools at YourEconomy.org Economic development researchers have a number of different websites at their fingertips providing them with needed research data. Each website has a specific focus and provides data to meet the demand. One relatively new website that is quickly becoming a source for regional information about the growth and composition of businesses is YourEconomy.org. In July 2009, YourEconomy.org updated its offering of available data to include industry-level composition and growth data and overall ranking data. YourEconomy.org uses Dun and Bradstreet tracking numbers, referred to as DUNS numbers, from individual businesses to compile and track their respective size and growth. For each geographic area, it shows the percentage of jobs and establishments that are resident, nonresident, and noncommercial. In addition, it breaks down the number of jobs and establishments attributable to businesses of different sizes, referred to as stages. Until last month, this data was available on the website at the national, state, MSA, and county levels but did not include industry-specific data or ranking data. As of July, industry-specific job and establishment data is also available at the national and state level, with MSA-data soon to follow. This new tool allows users to see how the composition and growth of businesses and jobs break down according to 20 different NAICS codes. These data can be viewed in three separate time frames: one-year, three-year, and ten-year periods. The industry data also show how resident, nonresident, and noncommercial businesses and the different stages of resident companies contribute to the composition of an industry and the growth (or decline) of an industry. By using this tool, users can determine levels of growth for specific industries. For example, it allows users to see how many food service establishments are at what level of development. It can also show the growth percentage of a specific job sector relative to the national growth rate. Another new tool on the YourEconomy.org website allows users to rank business activity in a state or MSA compared with other states or MSAs, allowing users to analyze the composition and growth of businesses and jobs across regions. For the composition section, researchers can rank how resident, nonresident, and noncommercial businesses and the different stages of resident companies contribute to the composition of the economy in different states and MSAs. In the growth section, users can rank how each of these factors contributed to the growth (or decline) of establishments or jobs in each state and MSA. The rankings tool can be used to find out such information as which state had the highest or lowest percentage of jobs from Stage One companies by year. It can also show what MSA experienced the fastest or lowest growth in the number of establishments, or even declines in those rates by specific year. To access the YourEconomy.org data, visit http://youreconomy.org/. |