SWCC
Career Pathways Research Resources
Dr. Ed Smith, SWCC Institutional Research
July 30, 2009
Rural areas are places with a great need to
obtain data for any number of reasons – economic development, grant writing, and
simply to be able to provide people with background information about the
community – come to mind. Yet rural areas find it difficult to get information
simply because the data about them involves small numbers and so even when the
information is provided it often is in collapsed forms.
The Virginia Employment Commission has several databases that provide
information, but some of the sources collapse data.
The Community Profile provides information about counties and cities that is a
good source of background information on counties/cities, workforce investment
areas (WIAs), and congressional districts -
http://www.vawc.virginia.gov/gsipub/index.asp?docid=342
LMI (Labor Market Information) Tools opens up several databases -
http://www.vawc.virginia.gov/gsipub/index.asp?docid=427
Unemployment data is provided by clicks on unemployment rate map, current
unemployment rates, characteristics of the insured unemployed, characteristics
of the job applicants, unemployment insurance data.
Industry data can be obtained on the 50 largest employers [I found that in
Russell County CGI isn’t listed as one of the top fifty, but this conclusion
does not seem accurate – so be careful], industry by size, number start-up firms
by clicking on
http://bi.cao.virginia.gov/VEC_EIS/rdPage.aspx?rdReport=lmitools_industry&tabsIndustry=tpnlLargestEmployers&rdNoShowWait=True&rdWaitCaption=Loading...
Population data is available at the population link, and one can get county/city
population by clicking on a map – remember that k=1,000 - as well as population
changes and population projections even by age/gender and race/ethnicity.
If you need affirmative action data (only gathered every ten years), it is
available at
http://www.census.gov/eeo2000/index.html
Quarterly Workforce Indicators provide information about major employer groups
in considerable detail; however, there are some concerns about the data which
are outlined at the “More Information” link at the site. User is given several
options in selecting data to be displayed. U.S. Census Bureau site -
http://lehd.did.census.gov/cgi-bin/qwitop_main?xstate=VA
Industry Focus allows for other forms of manipulation of the Quarterly Workforce
Indicators data. User is given several options in selecting data to be
displayed. U.S. Census Bureau Site -
http://lehd.did.census.gov/cgi-bin/broker?_SERVICE=industry_focus&_skin=1&_PROGRAM=pgm.top_report.sas&_report=no&_question=1+&_
state=va&_skin=1&_entity=state&_Ind2=off&_Ind3=off&_output=1&_output=2&_top=10&_question=1&_
table=no&_rankings=1&_sex=0&_agegroup=A00&_geog=
Location Quotient Calculator allows one to make industry comparisons between a
larger and smaller area.
http://www.vawc.virginia.gov/analyzer
Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages provide quarterly and annual data for
major employment North American Industrial Classification System sectors –
http://www.vawc.virginia.gov/analyzer/searchAnalyzer.asp?cat=IND&session=IND202&subsession=99&time=&geo=&currsubsessavail=&incsource=&blnStart=True
Home Page of the U.S. Census Bureau database –
http://www.census.gov/
Quick Facts and Fact Sheets presently provides data for areas with populations
of 25,000 or more –no data for areas such as Bristol, Bland County, Dickenson
County. Next year data should be available for these smaller jurisdictions
http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/index.html
http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/ACSSAFFFacts?_event=Search&geo_id=&_geoContext=&_street=&_county=&_cityTown=&_state=04000US51&_
zip=&_lang=en&_sse=on&pctxt=fph&pgsl=010
Poverty data is somewhat of a misstatement about information at this site which
includes median income data.
http://www.census.gov/hhes/www/poverty/poverty.html
Population Estimates of incorporated places
http://www.census.gov/popest/cities/cities.html
Weldon Cooper Center: A list of links and data.
http://www.coopercenter.org/
VA Retail Sales
http://www.virginia.edu/coopercenter/vastat/taxablesales/tax_sales.html
Additional Sources for Career Pathways Research
Diane Phillips, SWCC Library
O*NET Online –
http://online.onetcenter.org
Get detailed reports on occupations. You can find information on individual
occupations, occupations by In-Demand Industry Cluster, or occupations by Career
Cluster. In-Demand occupations are found in Industry Clusters that are
economically important, projected to have long-term growth, or are being
transformed by technology and innovation.
U.S. Department of Labor, Career Information –
http://www.dol.gov
This is the leading federal agency for employment-related programs and
statistics.
America’s Career InfoNet (ACINet) –
http://www.acinet.org/acinet
ACINet is part of the CareerOneStop suite of websites from the U.S. Department
of Labor. At this site, you’ll find national, state, and local career
information and labor market data. Under Occupation Information, you can view
occupation lists sorted by characteristics such as the fastest-growing or the
most openings, or compare wages and trends. Industry Information lists the
fastest-growing industries, those with the largest employment, and declining
industries. State Information provides you with demographic, employment, and
services data and links to state labor market information. Under State
Information, you can find Occupation Rankings for Fastest-growing occupations
and the Highest-paying occupations in Virginia.
Highest to Lowest Occupational Employment and Earnings in the U.S. and in
Metropolitan Areas –
http://www.ocouha.com/oesr
Links lead to lists of employment and earnings estimates for occupations in the
U.S., States, and metropolitan areas. Estimates are in descending numerical
order.
Career Guide to Industries –
http://www.bls.gov/oco/cg
The Career Guide to Industries from the Bureau of Labor Statistics allows you to
locate career information by industry. Information on each industry includes the
nature of the industry, working conditions, employment, occupations in the
industry, training and advancement, outlook, earnings, and lists of
organizations that can provide additional information.
Career Voyages –
http://www.careervoyages.gov
Career Voyages is a collaboration of the U.S. Department of Labor and U.S.
Department of Education. It’s designed to provide information on high-growth,
high-demand occupations, along with the skills and education needed to attain
those jobs. There you will find information on the hiring outlook and wages for
in-demand careers and view career videos online. You can explore “hot careers”
by state, by those requiring a four-year degree, or by those requiring less than
a four-year degree. Career Voyages also includes a special section for Career
Advisors.
Occupational Outlook Handbook –
http://www.bls.gov/oco
Produced by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the Occupational Outlook Handbook is
the best-known and comprehensive book on occupations. Each occupation
description provides extensive information on the nature of the work, working
conditions, training and education needed, advancement potential, employment
statistics, job outlook, earnings, links to related occupations, and sources of
additional information.
Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Statistics Survey (OES) –
http://www.bls.gov/oes
The Occupational Employment Statistics (OES) program produces employment and
wage estimates for over 800 occupations. These are estimates of the number of
people employed in certain occupations, and estimates of wages paid to them.
Self-employed persons are not included in the estimates. These estimates are
available for the nation as a whole, for individual states, and for metropolitan
and nonmetropolitan areas; national occupational estimates for specific
industries are also available.
For OES data for our local area, go to
http://www.bls.gov/oes .
Choose OES Tables.
Select Metropolitan and Nonmetropolitan Area Estimates listed by county or town.
Next click on the map of Virginia.
Select the link for Buchanan, Dickenson, Russell, or Tazewell County.
This will lead you to statistics for the Southwestern Virginia Nonmetropolitan
Area. The Southwestern Virginia nonmetropolitan area includes the following
counties and cities:
Bland County
Buchanan County
Carroll County
Dickenson County
Floyd County
Galax City
Grayson County
Henry County
Lee County
Martinsville City
Norton City
Patrick County
Russell County
Smyth County
Tazewell County
Wise County
Wythe County
Note: Information on this web site is not broken down for individual counties.
Trailblazers, Occupational Data for Career & Technical Education Course Planning
–
http://www.ctetrailblazers.org/live_data/live_site_page.php?page_id=59
This website includes an Opportunity Analysis for each of Virginia’s WIAs. WIA
01 includes our region; however, some of the data is incomplete. Virginia
Opportunity Analysis, WIA 01 Employment Data for CTE Classes -
http://www.ctetrailblazers.org/live_data/documents/OppAnalysisWIA01.pdf
Links to data sources are often given on statistical web pages, and sometimes it
is helpful to trace data back to the original source of information via these
links. For example, there is a link on the Trailblazers web page that will lead
you back to information in the U. S. Bureau and Labor Statistics’ Occupational
Projections & Training Data publication.