New State/Local Data for May 2009
2008 Population Estimates for Counties, Metropolitan and Micropolitan Areas
New Census Bureau data provide population estimates for July 1, 2007 to July 1, 2008. Highlights from these data include:
Counties
- Among the 100 fastest-growing counties, the majority were in Texas (19), Georgia (14), North Carolina (11) or Utah (nine).
- Texas was home to 10 counties among the 25 with the highest numerical gains and California to six. Each of the top 25 was in the South or West, with the exception of Cook, Ill. (Chicago).
- Five counties were among both the 25 fastest-growing and the 25 top numerical gainers: Pinal, Ariz.; Orleans, La.; Williamson, Texas; Fort Bend, Texas; and Wake, N.C.
Metro Areas
- Four of the 10 fastest-growing metro areas were in Utah and Idaho: Provo-Orem and St. George in Utah, Idaho Falls in Idaho, and Logan, which encompasses parts of Utah and Idaho.
Among Colorado counties: Garfield county was ranked the 39th fastest growing in the nation (among counties with populations of 10,000 or more), with a 3.9% annual growth rate; Douglas County ranked 49th in the U.S. with a 3.5% annual growth rate; Mesa ranked 83rd with a 3.1% annual growth rate; and Routt ranked 92nd, with a 3.0% annual population growth rate.
The Denver-Aurora, Colorado metropolitan statistical area (MSA) area ranked 12th in the nation as having the largest numeric population increase among MSAs, where the population grew by 53,233 persons to 2,453,393 over the period 2007 to 2008 (Denver was denoted the 25th largest MSA). Grand Junction ranked 11th in the nation among the fastest growing MSAs, with a 3.1% population increase from 2007 to 2008.
Hispanics and the Criminal Justice System: Low Confidence, High Exposure
The Pew Research Center reports that, at a time when Latinos are interacting more than ever with police, courts and prisons, their confidence in the U.S. criminal justice system is closer to the low levels expressed by blacks than to the high levels expressed by whites.
Six-in-ten (61%) Hispanics say they have a great deal or a fair amount of confidence that the police in their local communities will do a good job enforcing the law, compared with 78% of whites and 55% of blacks. Just under half (46%) of Hispanics say they have confidence that police officers will not use excessive force on suspects, compared with 73% of whites and 38% of blacks. Similarly, just under half of Hispanics say they are confident that police officers will treat Hispanics fairly (46%) and that courts will treat Hispanics fairly (49%). In comparison, 74% of whites and 37% of blacks say they have confidence that the police will treat blacks and whites equally.
The report also finds that more than half (56%) of Latinos say they or an immediate family member had contact with the criminal justice system in the previous five years. Contact includes reporting a crime to the police, serving on a jury, serving as a sworn witness in court, attending court on a criminal matter, being questioned by the police, being arrested, being on probation or parole, or serving time in jail or prison.
Unauthorized Immigrants More Dispersed Around the Country
Unauthorized immigrants living in the United States are more geographically dispersed than in the past and are more likely than either U.S. born residents or legal immigrants to live in a household with a spouse and children. In addition, a growing share of the children of unauthorized immigrant parents—73%—were born in this country and are U.S. citizens.
These are among the key findings of a new analysis by the Pew Hispanic Center, a project of the Pew Research Center, which builds on previous work estimating the size and growth of the U.S. unauthorized immigrant population. A 2008 report by the Center estimated that 11.9 million unauthorized immigrants lived in the United States; it concluded that the undocumented immigrant population grew rapidly from 1990 to 2006 but has since stabilized. In this new analysis, the Center estimates that the rapid growth of unauthorized immigrant workers also has halted; it finds that there were 8.3 million undocumented immigrants in the U.S. labor force in March 2008.
Based on March 2008 data collected by the Census Bureau, the Center estimates that unauthorized immigrants are 4% of the nation's population and account for 5.4% of its workforce. Their children, both those who are unauthorized immigrants themselves and those who are U.S. citizens, make up 6.8% of the students enrolled in the nation's elementary and secondary schools.
About three-quarters (76%) of the nation's unauthorized immigrants are Hispanic. The majority of undocumented immigrants (59%) are from Mexico. Significant regional sources of unauthorized immigrants include Asia (11%), Central America (11%), South America (7%), the Caribbean (4%) and the Middle East (less than 2%). These estimates are based mainly on data from March Current Population Surveys, conducted by the Census Bureau, through 2008, augmented with legal status assignments and adjusted to compensate for undercount; some estimates are from the 2000 and 1990 Censuses."
Statistical Profile of Mexicans Living in the United States
The Pew Hispanic Center, a project of the Pew Research Center, today released a statistical profile of Mexican immigrants living in the United States. This profile reveals that a record 12.7 million Mexican immigrants lived in the U.S. in 2008, a 17-fold increase since 1970. Mexicans now account for 32% of all U.S. immigrants and more than one-in-ten of all persons born in Mexico now reside in the U.S. No other country in the world has as many total immigrants from all countries as the United States has immigrants from Mexico alone.
More than half (55%) of Mexican immigrants in the U.S. are unauthorized. Immigrants from Mexico are younger than other immigrants and less likely to be U.S. citizens. Compared with the U.S. born population, Mexican immigrants are more likely to be male, married, and live in larger households. They are less educated, more likely to be unemployed, and have lower incomes and higher poverty rates.
The statistical profile is based on data from the March 2008 Current Population Survey. This statistical profile provides historical data on the flow of migrants from Mexico to the U.S. The profile also describes the demographic, employment and income characteristics of Mexican immigrants in the U.S., using data from the March 2008 Current Population Survey.
2008 Annual Survey of State Government Tax Collections
The U.S. Census Bureau reports that state government tax collections totaled $781.8 billion in fiscal year 2008, a $24.5 billion (3.2%) increase from 2007. According to data from the Census Bureau, taxes on individual income were $280.7 billion, up 5.1%; general sales taxes were $240.6 billion, up 0.9%; and corporation net income taxes were $51.8 billion, down 2.5%. These taxes made up 73.3% of all state tax collections nationally.
Severance taxes — imposed for removal of natural resources (e.g., oil, gas, coal, timber, fish, etc.) — were up $7.2 billion, or 65.3%, with the largest increases in the West and South. Documentary and stock transfer taxes — incurred when recording, registering or transferring documents, such as mortgages, deeds or securities — were down $2.5 billion, or 24.5%, with the largest decrease in the South. These files and tables contain annual statistics on the fiscal year tax collections of all 50 state governments, including receipts from licenses and compulsory fees. Tax revenues also include related penalty and interest receipts of the governments. These data do not include employer and employee assessments for retirement and social insurance purposes. They also do not include collections for the unemployment compensation taxes imposed by each of the state governments. In addition, these data include tax collections for state governments only; they do not include tax collections from local governments.
The Food Assistance Landscape: FY 2008 Annual Report
Federal expenditures for USDA’s food assistance programs totaled $60.7 billion in fiscal 2008, 11% more than in the previous fiscal year—the largest percentage increase in 16 years. Fiscal 2008 marked the eighth consecutive year in which food assistance expenditures exceeded the previous historical record amount. The five largest food assistance programs in fiscal 2008—the Food Stamp Program, the National School Lunch Program, the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC), the Child and Adult Care Food Program, and the School Breakfast Program—accounted for 95% of USDA’s expenditures for food assistance. Each of these five major programs expanded during fiscal 2008. This ERS report uses preliminary data from USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service to examine trends in the food and nutrition assistance programs through fiscal 2008. It also discusses a recent ERS report that examined some of the issues facing the National School Lunch Program.
The WIC Program: Background, Trends, and Economic Issues, 2009 Edition
This ERS report describes the WIC program—how it works, its history, program trends, and the characteristics of the population it serves. It also examines current issues facing WIC, focusing mainly on those with important economic implications. The mission of the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) is to safeguard the health of low-income women, infants, and children through age 4 who are at nutritional risk. WIC provides nutritious foods to supplement diets, nutrition education, and referrals to health care and other social services. Administered by USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service (FNS), almost half of all infants and about a quarter of all children ages 1-4 in the United States participate in the program. WIC is USDA’s third-largest food and nutrition assistance program, accounting for 10 percent of total Federal spending on food and nutrition assistance.
WIC and the Battle Against Childhood Overweight
ERS reports that one of the most worrisome aspects of the growing tide of obesity in the United States is the high rate of overweight among children. Over one in five young children, ages 2 to 5, are at risk of being overweight. The number of children at risk of being overweight has grown in the past two decades, as has the number of young children whose families participate in the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC). Are these increases connected? The answer appears to be “No.” However, being from a low-income family, especially a low-income, Mexican-American family, does raise the probability of a child’s being at risk for overweight. This brief examines trends in the relationship between WIC participation and weight status by updating the results of Food and Nutrition Assistance Programs and Obesity: 1976-2002 (ERR-48) to include data from the 2003-2006 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES).
Ethanol Co-Product Use in U.S. Cattle Feeding: Lessons Learned and Considerations
A USDA ERS report describes the change in perceptions of using byproducts from making ethanol (sweeteners, syrups, and oils) which used to be considered less valuable than the primary products. The increased livestock-feed market for such byproducts in the past few years has switched that perception to one of the ethanol industry making grain-based “co-products” that have market value separate from the primary products. Co-products such as dried distiller’s grains, corn gluten feed, corn gluten meal, corn oil, solubles, and brewer’s grains have become economically viable components, along with traditional ingredients (such as corn, soybean meal, and urea), in feed rations. In fact, the value that co-products add to profit margins has become critical in maintaining processing plants’ economic viability. When ethanol prices and profit margins for ethanol production were high, co-products were not as important as a source of revenue for ethanol plants. More recently, as ethanol prices have fallen and co-product demand has risen from livestock producers, co-product prices have been boosted to levels that, at times, exceeded the value of corn for feeding.
Ethanol Co-Product Use in U.S. Cattle Feeding: Lessons Learned and Considerations
A USDA ERS report describes the change in perceptions of using byproducts from making ethanol (sweeteners, syrups, and oils) which used to be considered less valuable than the primary products. The increased livestock-feed market for such byproducts in the past few years has switched that perception to one of the ethanol industry making grain-based “co-products” that have market value separate from the primary products. Co-products such as dried distiller’s grains, corn gluten feed, corn gluten meal, corn oil, solubles, and brewer’s grains have become economically viable components, along with traditional ingredients (such as corn, soybean meal, and urea), in feed rations. In fact, the value that co-products add to profit margins has become critical in maintaining processing plants’ economic viability. When ethanol prices and profit margins for ethanol production were high, co-products were not as important as a source of revenue for ethanol plants. More recently, as ethanol prices have fallen and co-product demand has risen from livestock producers, co-product prices have been boosted to levels that, at times, exceeded the value of corn for feeding.
Organic Production
Organic farming has been one of the fastest growing segments of U.S. agriculture for over a decade, and in 2005 all 50 states in the U.S. had some certified organic farmland. U.S. producers dedicated over 4.0 million acres of farmland—1.7 million acres of cropland and 2.3 million acres of rangeland and pasture—to organic production systems in 2005. California remains the leading state in certified organic cropland, with over 220,000 acres, mostly for fruit and vegetable production. Other top states for certified organic cropland include North Dakota, Montana, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Texas, and Idaho. Over 40 states also had some certified organic rangeland and pasture in 2005, although only 4 states—Alaska, Texas, California and Montana—had more than 100,000 acres. USDA lifted restrictions on organic meat labeling in the late 1990s, and the organic poultry and beef sectors are now expanding rapidly. In 2005, Colorado had 60,766 acres of organic pasture (ranked 6th in the U.S.), and 73,092 acres of certified organic cropland (ranking 10th in the U.S). Colorado had 233 certified operations in 2000, and 109 in 2007 (ranking 21st among all states). This data set surveys organic operations and acreage for crops and livestock (over 40 commodities), at both the national and state levels. Data updated in April 2009 include the number of certified operations by state, for 2000-07.
U.S. Public Agricultural Research: Changes in Funding Sources and Shifts in Emphasis, 1980-2005
This USDA ERS report focuses on the way public agricultural research is funded in the United States and how changes in funding sources over the last 25 years reflect changes in the type of research pursued. Over the years, proposals have recommended shifting the focus of public agricultural research from applied to basic research, and giving higher priority to peer-reviewed, competitively funded grants. The public agricultural research system in the United States is a Federal-State partnership, with most research conducted at State institutions. In recent years, State funds have declined, USDA funds have remained fairly steady (with changes in the composition of funding), but funding from other Federal agencies and the private sector has increased. Efforts to increase competitively awarded funds for research have fluctuated over time, as have special grants (earmarks). Along with shifts in funding sources, the proportion of basic research being undertaken within the public agricultural research system has declined.
