Cassiopeia

I believe Henry David Thoreau predicted the financial crisis, 9/11, and other major disasters when he said the following:  it requires more than a day’s devotion to know and to possess the wealth of a day. More than two decades after the 1980’s recession and our government still has no idea how to prevent a major financial crisis caused by major bluffing. Or maybe they do and they turned a blind eye, but I doubt they expected things to get this bad.

Anyway, I’ve been shy about updating lately. One, because I didn’t want to add to the “noise” that is the blogging voice, and two, because I barely feel like this is a worthy update. But who gives a damn. So here’s what I’ve been loosely into: visualization of data. Of what? Well, of none other than my glorious unemployment. 

A graphical version of unemployment rate exists on NYT and is current up to 1/08/10.  The parallels are as striking as the fact that the rate of unemployment outpaces that of the rate during the 1980s — a clear indication that the average american today is relatively ill-prepared for job loss.

Here’s another interesting look at it from a micro-view.  A lot of the job loss happening affects minorities without an education — people who need the money the most.  While Asian women between the ages of 24-44 have an average unemployment rate of 6.7%, African American males with the same qualifications see an average unemployment rate of 16.7%. If you don’t have a highschool diploma, that rate jumps up to 48%.

So, happy 2010 everyone! Here’s to keeping your job! And if you can’t do that, you’re welcomed to travel to Nepal with me.

Other cool links to unemployment data:

Employment Outlook for the state of California  [Excel format]

A method for graphing employment data by job [via Flare w/Minnesota as an example]

Tutorial on how to compile national data [via Python & BeautifulSoup library from Excel file] // btw, this is from the FlowingData website which I have to send incredible accolades to.

And a special thanks to Alex for helping me procrastinate by linking me to most of these sources. *unappreciative yay*