125,000 Jobs Lost In June, But Unemployment Rate Drops Slightly

The monthly unemployment rate dropped slightly from 9.7 % to 9.5% in June, but the economy also shed 125,000 jobs, according to data released Friday by the U.S. Bureau of Labor and Statistics.

The bureau attributed the lost jobs to the decline in Census 2010 employment. 225,000 Census taking positions and related temporary jobs were phased out last month.

The data also shows that the private sector added an additional 83,000 jobs in June, a circumstance that President Barack Obama trumpeted Friday.

“[The report] showed the six-straight month of job growth in the private sector,” Obama said during brief remarks at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland. “We’re headed in the right direction.”

Although June’s unemployment rate is the lowest in nearly a year, the new numbers show that 14.6 million Americans continue to be out of work.

First Hand Report on Ground Efforts From Haiti Census Creates Clarity

“When we landed there was a eerie sort of, sense of calm,” said Dr. Daniel Carucci, the vice president for Global Health for the U.N. Foundation, today during a briefing on ground efforts in Haiti.

Dr. Carucci, one of the first responders, gave a first hand account on the devastation throughout Port Au Prince. “People were sleeping where they could, on the ground, under tarps, under the stars,” he said.

When Carucci arrived, two native, displaced citizens approached him with a census they conducted. This included the number of people in a family, how many killed and how many alive. The census will help ensure supplies be efficiently distributed to those most in need.

Three satellite phones and Wi-Fi have been established to better enable communication between locals and those helping in relief efforts.

In order to contribute to the relief effort, Central Emergency Relief Fund has set up a text service that allows for immediate $5 donations. In order to donate text "CERF" to 90999.

Silence at the question - How can we make the 2010 census more cost effective?

By Kayleigh Harvey - Talk Radio News Service

The Senate Homeland Security Governmental Affairs Subcommittee on Federal Financial Management, Government Information, Federal Services and International Security, met today to discuss “Lessons Learned: How the New Administration Can Achieve an Accurate and Cost Effective 2010 Census.”

Testifying before the subcommittee was Barbara Everitt Bryant, former Director of the U.S. Census Bureau, John Thompson, President of the National Opinion Research Council, Robert Goldenkoff, director of strategic issues at the Government Accountability Office, David Powner, director of IT management issues at the Government Accountability Office, Dr. Lawrence Brown, chair of the National Academy of Sciences’ Committee on National Statistics and Dr. Robert Hill, sociologist and former chair of the U.S. Census Bureau’s Advisory Committee on the African American Population.

The committee hearing identified to main focuses; questions over how to make the 2010 census more cost effective and the need for a new director of the U.S. Census Bureau to be appointed immediately.

Chairman Tom Carper (D-Del) said in his introductory comments: “I do not think it is overstating things to say that the 2010 Census is approaching a state of emergency. Significant work has to be done, and the bureau does not have a director in place to make these critical decisions.”

Chairman Carper asked the witnesses how they felt the 2010 could be made more cost effective. There was a silence amongst them and no conclusive response.

The witnesses did propose other suggestions on how the Census Bureau could and should be improved for future consideration; Barbara Bryant suggested that the director of the Census Bureau should be a 5-year term instead of the current 4-year term, in order to fill this current state of ‘limbo’ between administrations.

Dr. Hill made four key suggestions for the bureau; that the bureau be given sufficient financial resources to work efficiently, that the bureau hire a racially diverse workforce, devise effective advertisement campaigns to target minority and non-represented communities in the census, and provide assistance with completing census forms.

All witnesses expressed the urgent need for the currently vacant position of director of the Census Bureau to be filled immediately so that key decisions can be made. Chairman Carper requested that each of the witnesses submit two names to the subcommittee by close of business tomorrow of candidates they feel should be considered by the Obama administration to fill this void.
Chairman Carper will also call the acting director before the subcommittee to provide an update on the current arrangement for the 2010 census.

America's Health Insurance Plans holds news conference to announce results of census

America’s Health Insurance Plans held a news conference today to announce the results of their annual census. The census says, “More than 6.1 million Americans are covered by Health Savings Account (HSA)-eligible insurance plans, a 35 percent increase since last year” Nearly half of the enrollees are age forty or over and “30 percent of individuals covered by an HSA plan were in the small group market, 45 percent of individual covered by an HSA plan were in the large-group market, and the remaining 25 percent were in the individual market.” Ahip.org has plenty of information and the release of their census’. They conduct some of the largest surveys on these markets.