Resource of the Week: More Niche Statistics
Resource of the Week: More Niche Statistics
By Shirl Kennedy, Senior Editor
Judging by the e-mail we got and the number of links-to-us, last week’s collection of niche statistics was somewhat of a hit. Well, there are plenty more in our ever-growing collection. So here is another handful of fishing holes for interesting numbers.
ATA produces the Airline Cost Index to monitor trends in the cost of inputs (e.g., labor, fuel, food, aircraft ownership, airport landing fees, insurance, utilities, interest) to the provision of air service over time. The various indices also facilitate comparisons among the components themselves and between airline costs and broader economic indicators. Long-term cost trends are important determinants of airfares.
The airline industry is perpetually in the news. See why.
+ National Transportation Safety Board: Aviation Accident Statistics
The official U.S. government source of data concerning aviation accidents, fatalities, injuries, etc. Regularly updated. One particularly intriguing table: Air Carrier Occurrences Involving Illegal Acts
(Sabotage, Suicide, or Terrorism), 1988 through 2007.
+ Port Industry Statistics
Brought to you by the American Association of Port Authorities, this collection includes data in PDF or xls format concerning:
- Port Security Fees
- World Port Rankings - 2006*
- World Seaborne Trade - 1975-2006*
- North American Port Container Traffic - 2007 **
- 2006 U.S. Port Cargo Tonnage Rankings*
- 2003 U.S. Port Rankings By Cargo Value*
- Port of Mexico - Container Traffic (1990-2006)*
- U.S. / Canada Container Traffic in TEUs (1990 - 2007)*
- Container Handling Ports of Central and South America (1997-2006) **
Other fishing holes for port/shipping statistics include:
- Waterborne Commerce Statistics Center (U.S. Army Corps of Engineers)
- U.S Maritime Administration: Data & Statistics
+ Regional Economic Conditions (RECON) (FDIC)
Regional Economic Conditions (RECON) was originally designed to assist the FDIC in the examination process by providing economic information at the state, MSA (Metropolitan Statistical Area), and county levels. It is helpful in the analysis of risks facing financial institutions. We believe that easy access to timely, high-quality information about economic conditions and risks could be of benefit to some banks, as well as the general public.
Using RECON, anyone with internet access is able to drill down to any state, MSA, or county to view standard graphs, tables, and maps depicting economic conditions and how they have changed over time.
RECON contains a ’shopping cart’ feature that allows the user to assemble charts and tables of interest and then print them together at the end of their session.
Economic data is arranged by geography. Start by choosing a state from the dropdown menu on the left-hand side of the screen.
We like this one because it allows us to access county- and MSA-level economic performance data that is updated regularly. Your tax dollars at work.
+ Transportation Construction Employment Report
This monthly report, from the American Road & Transportation Builders Association, is its own little economic indicator. It provides detailed information on highway, street, bridge and tunnel contractor employment, including trends.
+ WebCASPAR: Integrated Science and Engineering Resources Data System
The WebCASPAR database provides easy access to a large body of statistical data resources for science and engineering (S&E) at U.S. academic institutions. WebCASPAR emphasizes S&E, but its data resources also provide information on non-S&E fields and higher education in general.
This National Science Foundation resource includes a wide range of statistics on such things as earned doctorates, federal research funding, R&D expenditures at institutions of higher learning, research facilities, and more.