August 2021 Stakeholder Report

August 2021 Stakeholder Report

 

COPAFS News

The 2021 FCSM Research and Policy Conference has been converted to a virtual event due to the recent surge of COVID-19 cases in the DC area. There are close to 200 papers being presented in 52 sessions during the course of the conference which runs from November 2 – 4, 2021. The FCSM Program has been finalized and registration for the event is open. The Plenary Speaker is Dr. Helen Nissenbaum, Professor of Information Science at Cornell Tech. Sponsorship opportunities are available.

We look forward to welcoming you and your colleagues to the 2021 FCSM Conference!

Upcoming Events

Next COPAFS Quarterly Meeting: Friday September 10, 2021
COPAFS will hold its next Quarterly Meeting on Friday September 10, 2021. The agenda and meeting registration information will be posted in mid-August

2021 FCSM Research and Policy Conference: November 2-4, 2021
The 2021 FCSM Research and Policy Conference has been scheduled for November 2-4, 2021. It will be held at the Washington Convention Center (pandemic conditions permitting and cooperating) and registration will open in the coming months. The Planning Committee is currently accepting abstract submissions through April 19, 2021. To submit an abstract or to find out more about this year’s conference, please visit: FCSM2021

Agency Releases

Bureau of Economic Analysis (DOC)

  • On August 26, GDP, 2nd Quarter 2021 (Second Estimate) was released. Real gross domestic product (GDP) increased at an annual rate of 6.6 percent in the second quarter of 2021 (table 1), according to the “second” estimate released by the Bureau of Economic Analysis. In the first quarter, real GDP increased 6.3 percent. The GDP estimate released today is based on more complete source data than were available for the “advance” estimate issued last month. In the advance estimate, the increase in real GDP was 6.5 percent. The update reflects upward revisions to nonresidential fixed investment and exports that were partly offset by downward revisions to private inventory investment, residential fixed investment, and state and local government spending. Imports, which are a subtraction in the calculation of GDP, were revised down
  • On August 20, Activities of US Affiliates of Foreign Multinational Enterprises, 2019 was released. Majority-owned U.S. affiliates (MOUSAs) of foreign multinational enterprises (MNEs) employed 7.95 million workers in the United States in 2019, a 1.1 percent increase from 7.86 million in 2018, according to statistics on MOUSA operations and finances released by the Bureau of Economic Analysis. MOUSAs accounted for 6.0 percent of total private-industry employment in the United States. Employment by MOUSAs was largest in manufacturing and in retail trade. MOUSAs with ultimate owners in the United Kingdom, Japan, and Canada were the largest contributors to total MOUSA employment.

Bureau of Justice Statistics (DOJ)

  • On August 13, Federal Hate Crimes Prosecution, 2005-19 – Supplemental Tables were released. The tables present data on the number of hate crime suspects referred to U.S. attorneys and hate crime defendants convicted in U.S. district court, by federal judicial district and by state or territory, for fiscal years 2005–19. The tables rely on existing administrative data received from the Executive Office for U.S. Attorneys and the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts for BJS’s Federal Justice Statistics Program

Bureau of Labor Statistics (DOL)

  • On August 26, Multifactor Productivity Trends for Detailed Industries – 2019 was released. Multifactor productivity–defined as output per unit of combined inputs–fell in 61 of the 86 4-digit NAICS manufacturing industries in 2019, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. In 2018 multifactor productivity decreased in 37 manufacturing industries. Among transportation industries, multifactor productivity increased in air transportation and decreased in line-haul railroads.
  • On August 11, Consumer Price Index – July 2021 was released. The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) increased 0.5 percent in July on a seasonally adjusted basis after rising 0.9 percent in June. Over the last 12 months, the all items index increased 5.4 percent before seasonal adjustment. The indexes for shelter, food, energy, and new vehicles all increased in July and contributed to the monthly all items seasonally adjusted increase. The food index increased 0.7 percent in July as five of the major grocery store food group indexes rose, and the food away from home index increased 0.8 percent. The energy index rose 1.6 percent in July, as the gasoline index increased 2.4 percent and other energy component indexes also rose.

Bureau of Transportation Statistics (DOT)

  • On August 25, the North American Transborder Freight – June 2021 was released. Highlights include Total Transborder freight: $116 billion of transborder freight moved by all modes of transportation, up 41% compared to June 2020. June 2021 Transborder freight was up 11.8% compared to $103.8 billion in June 2019. Nations: Freight between the U.S. and Canada totaled $58.8B. Freight between the U.S. and Mexico totaled $57.2B. Most-used mode: Trucks moved $72.2 billion of freight, up 27.9% compared to June 2020 and up 10% compared to $65.6 billion in June 2019.
  • On August 11, the June 2021 Freight Transportation Services Index was released. The Freight Transportation Services Index (TSI), which is based on the amount of freight carried by the for-hire transportation industry, fell 0.2% in June from May, falling for the second consecutive month, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics’ (BTS). From June 2020 to June 2021 the index rose 5.6% compared to a decline of 7.0% from June 2019 to June 2020 and an increase of 1.4 percent from June 2018 to June 2019

Census Bureau (DOC)

  • On August 26, Small Business Pulse Survey Phase 6 Weekly Data was released. New content in the SBPS Phase 6 covers difficulties hiring employees, new workplace norms, changes in demand for goods or services, and price changes from suppliers. In addition, Phase 6 will include information consistent with previous phases regarding location closings and openings, changes in employment, workplace vaccine and testing requirements, supply chain disruptions, and expectations concerning future operations.
  • On August 12, the Redistricting Data from the 2020 Census was released. The population of U.S. metro areas grew by 9% from 2010 to 2020, resulting in 86% of the population living in U.S. metro areas in 2020, compared to 85% in 2010.
  • On August 10, the 2019 Community Resilience Estimates were released. The data measure the ability of a population to withstand adversity from the impacts of disasters, including weather- and disease-related events such as pandemics, forest fires and floods. Later this month, the new data will also be available through a toolthat shows risk level by state, county and tract. These estimates are created using data from the 2019 American Community Survey 1-year estimates and population and housing unit estimates.

Energy Information Administration (DOE)

  • On August 10, it was reported that Natural Gas Stocks in Southern CA Exceeded 2020 Levels. Natural gas stocks are currently 80.0 billion cubic feet (Bcf) compared with 77.4 Bcf a year ago. SoCalGas’s stocks are about 22% above the five-year average.
  • On August 10, the Short-Term Energy Outlook was released. The August Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO) remains subject to heightened levels of uncertainty related to the ongoing recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. U.S. economic activity continues to rise after reaching multiyear lows in the second quarter of 2020 (2Q20). U.S. gross domestic product (GDP) declined by 3.5% in 2020 from 2019 levels. This STEO assumes U.S. GDP will grow by 6.6% in 2021 and by 5.0% in 2022. The U.S. macroeconomic assumptions in this outlook are based on forecasts by IHS Markit. Our forecast assumes continuing economic growth and increasing mobility. Any developments that would cause deviations from these assumptions would likely cause energy consumption and prices to deviate from our forecast.

National Agricultural Statistics Service (USDA)

  • In August, the Examining the Growth in Seasonal Agricultural H-2A Labor Report was released. The H-2A Agricultural Guest Worker program allows U.S. agricultural employers to hire foreign workers on a temporary or seasonal basis. The program rapidly expanded over the last decade, with certified H-2A positions increasing by more than 200 percent from 2010-19. This report explores how H-2A usage levels differ by agricultural sector, geography, and by the type of firm requesting workers.
  • In August, The Food and Nutrition Assistance Landscape: FY20 Annual Report was released. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) typically administers 15 domestic food and nutrition assistance programs that affect the lives of millions of people and account for roughly two-thirds of USDA’s annual budget. In response to the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, USDA launched two new programs, Pandemic Electronic Benefit Transfer (P-EBT) and the Farmers to Families Food Box Program (Food Box Program). This report uses preliminary data from USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service and Agricultural Marketing Service to examine program trends in the largest U.S. food and nutrition assistance programs through fiscal year 2020 (October 1, 2019 to September 30, 2020) and documents the many policy changes that came into effect since March 2020

National Center for Education Statistics (DOEd)

National Center for Health Statistics (CDC)

  • On August 31, Health Insurance Coverage: Early Release of Estimates from the NHIS, 2020 was released. In 2020, 31.6 million persons of all ages (9.7%) were uninsured at the time of interview. This is lower than, but not significantly different from, 2019 where 33.2 million persons of all ages (10.3%) were uninsured. In 2020, among adults aged 18– 64, 13.9% were uninsured at the time of interview, 20.5% had public coverage, and 67.5% had private health insurance coverage. Among children aged 0–17 years, 5.1% were uninsured, 42.2% had public coverage, and 54.9% had private health insurance coverage.
  • On August 31, Wireless Substitution: Early Release of Estimates from the NHIS, July-December 2020 was released. During this time period, 65.8% of adults and 75.5% of children lived in wireless-only households. NHIS data can also be used to estimate the percentage of adults who live in wireless-only households and have their own wireless telephone (wireless-only adults). For July-December 2020, 65.3% of adults were wireless-only adults. Demographic subgroups with the highest percentages of wireless-only adults include adults aged 25–29 (82.3%) and 30-34 (85.0%), as well as adults renting their homes (80.8%).
  • On August 11, Provisional Drug Overdose Death Counts (through Jan 2021) were released. Provisional drug overdose death counts are based on death records received and processed by the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) as of a specified cutoff date. The cutoff date is generally the first Sunday of each month. National provisional estimates include deaths occurring within the 50 states and the District of Columbia. NCHS receives the death records from state vital registration offices through the Vital Statistics Cooperative Program (VSCP).

National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics (NSF)

  • On July 15, an InfoBrief was released indicating that Growth in Federal S&E Support to HBCUs lagged behind increases to all institutions in FY 2019. In FY 2019, federal agency obligations to universities and colleges for science and engineering (S&E) activities increased 8% from FY 2018, to a historical high of $38.1 billion in current dollars. Between FY 2018 and FY 2019, obligations for S&E support to historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) increased at a slower rate, up 7% to $341 million.
  • On July 8, the Elementary and Secondary STEM Education Report was released. Average scores for U.S. fourth and eighth graders on a national assessment of mathematics improved from 1990 to 2007, but there was no overall measurable improvement in mathematics scores from 2007 to 2019. Differences persist in U.S. science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) achievement scores by socioeconomic status (SES) and race or ethnicity. Differences in U.S. STEM achievement scores by sex are smaller than those by SES or race or ethnicity but are present; male students slightly outscored female students on some national assessments, although female students substantially outscored male students on a computer information literacy exam.

National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics (NSF)

  • On August 31, The STEM Labor Force of Today: Scientists, Engineers, and Skilled Technical Workers was released. the STEM workforce represented 23% of the total U.S. workforce in 2019. A little over half of STEM workers do not have a bachelor’s degree and work primarily in health care (19%), construction trades (20%), installation, maintenance, and repair (21%), and production occupations (14%). Unemployment was lower among the STEM labor force (2%) compared to the non-STEM labor force (4%) in 2019, and this pattern persisted even during the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2019, STEM workers had higher median earnings ($55,000) than non-STEM workers ($33,000).
  • On August 9, an InfoBrief Measuring R&D Workers Using NCSES Statistics was released. This InfoBrief reports on various measures of workers engaged in R&D activity (R&D workers) using data from the National Survey of College Graduates (NSCG), sponsored by NCSES within the National Science Foundation. The data shown in this report reflect an ability to take a broad approach in measuring workers engaged in R&D work activity. However, this broad approach diverges from international guidance and is no longer the NCSES-recommended measurement for estimating R&D workers from its demographic surveys.

Statistics of Income Division (IRS)

  • In August, the Summer 2021 SOI Bulletin was released. The Statistics of Income Bulletin is issued quarterly by the Statistics of Income Division of the Internal Revenue Service. Usually, the report provides the earliest published annual financial statistics obtained from the various types of tax and information returns filed, as well as information from periodic or special analytical studies of particular interest to students of the U.S. tax system, tax policymakers, and tax administrators. However, this time, this issue is dedicated to honor the 40th Anniversary of the SOI Division’s flagship publication.

Federal Register Notices

There were 23 federal register notices posted by federal statistical agencies from July 26, 2021 to August 25, 2021. Links to each of these notices are organized by agency below.

Bureau of Economic Analysis (DOC) – 2 New Notices

Date Notice URL
8/24/2021    Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for Review and Approval; Comment Request; Services Surveys: BE-9, Quarterly Survey of Foreign Airline Operators’ Revenues and Expenses in the United States Link
8/19/2021    Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for Review and Approval; Comment Request; Services Surveys: BE-125, Quarterly Survey of Transactions in Selected Services and Intellectual Property With Foreign Persons Link

 

Bureau of Justice Statistics (DOJ) – 3 New Notices

Date Notice URL
8/23/2021    Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposed eCollection eComments Requested; Extension Without Change of a Currently Approved Collection: Grants Management System (JustGrants System) Link
8/10/2021    Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposed eCollection eComments Requested; Revision of a Currently Approved Collection: Office for Victims of Crime Training and Technical Assistance Center-Trafficking Information Management System (TIMS) Link
7/30/2021    2021 Survey of Campus Law Enforcement Agencies (SCLEA); Correction Link

 

Bureau of Labor Statistics (DOL) – No New Notices

Bureau of Transportation Statistics (DOT) – No New Notices

Census Bureau (DOC) – 7 New Notices

Date Notice URL
8/25/2021    Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for Review and Approval; Comment Request; Vehicle Inventory and Use Survey Link
8/19/2021    Census Scientific Advisory Committee Link
7/29/2021    Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for Review and Approval; Comment Request; Report of Building or Zoning Permits Issued for New Privately-Owned Housing Units Link
7/29/2021    Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for Review and Approval; Comment Request; Spatial, Address, and Imagery Data Program Link
7/29/2021    Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for Review and Approval; Comment Request; Management and Organizational Practices Survey (MOPS) 2021 Link
7/27/2021    Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for Review and Approval; Comment Request; Form BC-170, U.S. Census Employment Application and Form BC-171, Additional Applicant Information Link
7/27/2021    Request for Nominations of Members To Serve on the Census Scientific Advisory Committee Link

 

Economic Research Service (USDA) – No New Notices

Energy Information Administration (DOE) – No New Notices

National Agricultural Statistics Service (USDA) – 2 New Notices

Date Notice URL
8/6/2021    Notice of Intent To Request Revision and Extension of a Currently Approved Information Collection – Floriculture Survey Link
7/30/2021    Notice of Intent To Request Revision and Extension of a Currently Approved Information Collection – Stocks Reports Link

 

National Center for Education Statistics (DOEd) – 5 New Notices

Date Notice URL
8/23/2021    Total and Permanent Disability Discharge of Loans Under Title IV of the Higher Education Act Link
8/18/2021    Solicitation of Public Comments for Updating the Science Assessment Framework for the 2028 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) Link
8/2/2021    Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission to the Office of Management and Budget for Review and Approval; Comment Request; Common Core of Data (CCD) School-Level Finance Survey (SLFS) 2021-2023 Link
8/2/2021    Agency Information Collection Activities; Comment Request; Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS 2021) Main Study Data Collection Link
7/28/2021    Applications for New Awards; Education Innovation and Research (EIR) Program-Early-Phase Grants Link

 

National Center for Health Statistics (HHS) – 4 New Notices

Date Notice URL
8/13/2021    Agency Forms Undergoing Paperwork Reduction Act Review Link
7/6/2021    National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) Stored Biologic Samples; Proposed Cost Schedule and Guidelines for Proposals To Use Serum, Plasma, and Urine Samples Link
8/5/2021    Public Health Reassessment and Order Suspending the Right To Introduce Certain Persons From Countries Where a Quarantinable Communicable Disease Exists Link
7/26/2021    National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS), ICD-10 Coordination and Maintenance (C&M) Committee Meeting Link

 

National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics (NSF) – No New Notices

Office of Research, Evaluation & Statistics (SSA) – No New Notices

Statistics of Income Division (IRS) – No New Notices

Of Interest

In June, 2021, Peggy G. Carr, Ph.D., was named Commissioner of the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) in the Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education. Dr. Carr served as Associate Commissioner of the Assessment Division for NCES for nearly 20 years. In that role, she was responsible for national and international large-scale assessments, and most notably, managed the administration of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). Most recently, she oversaw the transformational transition of NAEP from paper and pencil assessments to digital-based ones. Prior to joining NCES, she served as the Chief Statistician for the Office for Civil Rights, within the U.S. Department of Education. Her distinguished career also includes teaching courses in statistics and research methods to doctoral-level students for more than 15 years as an adjunct professor in the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences at Howard University. Dr. Carr received her B.S. in psychology, with a concentration in statistics, from North Carolina Central University, and obtained M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in developmental psychology from Howard University.

On August 12, The Census Bureau released the redistricting data from the 2020 decennial census. These statistics, which come from the 2020 Census Redistricting Data (Public Law 94-171) Summary File, provide the first look at populations for small areas and include information on Hispanic origin, race, age 18 and over, housing occupancy and group quarters. They represent where people were living as of April 1, 2020, and are available for the nation, states and communities down to the block level. Acting Census Bureau Director Ron Jarmin stated, “We are excited to reach this milestone of delivering the first detailed statistics from the 2020 Census. We appreciate the public’s patience as Census Bureau staff worked diligently to process these data and ensure it meets our quality standards.”