Accurate, Focused Research on Law, Technology and Knowledge Discovery Since 2002

Daily Archives: October 22, 2014

Regional and State Employment and Unemployment Summary – September 2014

BLS news release: “Regional and state unemployment rates were generally little changed in September. Thirty-one states had unemployment rate decreases from August, 8 states had increases, and 11 states and the District of Columbia had no change, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Forty-two states and the District of Columbia had unemployment rate decreases from a year earlier, five states had increases, and three states had no change. The national jobless rate declined to 5.9 percent from August and was 1.3 percentage points lower than in September 2013. In September 2014, nonfarm payroll employment increased in 39 states and the District of Columbia, decreased in 10 states, and was unchanged in South Dakota. The largest over-the-month increases in employment occurred in Texas (+36,400), Illinois (+19,300), and Colorado (+14,600). The largest over-the-month decrease in employment occurred in California (-9,800), followed by Pennsylvania (-9,600) and Virginia (-7,400). The largest over-the-month percentage increase in employment occurred in the District of Columbia (+1.1 percent), followed by Alaska (+0.9 percent) and West Virginia (+0.8 percent). The largest over-the- month percentage declines in employment occurred in Indiana, Pennsylvania, Vermont, and Virginia (-0.2 percent each). Over the year, nonfarm employment increased in 49 states and the District of Columbia and decreased in Alaska (-0.2 percent). The largest over-the-year percentage increase occurred in North Dakota (+5.1 percent), followed by Texas (+3.7 percent) and Utah (+3.6 percent).”

So Little Paper to Chase in a Law Firm’s New Library – NYT

New York Times, David W. Dunlap: “The law firm Kaye Scholer left a lot behind when it moved this month from 425 Park Avenue, where it had been since 1957, into new quarters at 250 West 55th Street. It left behind offices that had served giants like Milton Handler, one of whose students, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg,… Continue Reading

Tuition costs of colleges and universities

National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) Fast Facts: “What are the trends in the cost of college education? Response: For the 2011–12 academic year, annual current dollar prices for undergraduate tuition, room, and board were estimated to be $14,300 at public institutions, $37,800 at private nonprofit institutions, and $23,300 at private for-profit institutions. Between 2001–02 and 2011–12, prices… Continue Reading

New GAO Report – Individual Retirement Accounts

Preliminary Information on IRA Balances Accumulated as of 2011 [Reissued on October 22, 2014]. GAO-14-878T: Published: Sep 16, 2014. Publicly Released: Sep 16, 2014. “For tax year 2011 (the most recent year available), an estimated 43 million taxpayers had individual retirement accounts (IRA) with total reported fair market value of $5.2 trillion. About 99 percent of… Continue Reading

New Environmental Report Documents Fracking’s Toxic Loophole

News release: “Despite a federal ban on the use of diesel fuel in hydraulic fracturing without a permit, several oil and gas companies are exploiting a Safe Drinking Water Act loophole pushed through by Halliburton to frack with petroleum-based products containing even more dangerous toxic chemicals than diesel. For example, a drilling company in West Texas… Continue Reading