SEMCOG continues to build on its data offerings with Economic Trends. On this page, you can find two interactive tools to visualize the changes in our region’s economy over time. You can also download the data.
Economic Indicators
Economic Indicators debuted just over a year ago. This tool shows annual change for measures such as unemployment rate, gross domestic product, per capita income, population change, housing units, pavement and bridge conditions, and more. Data are available for all seven counties in the SEMCOG region and Southeast Michigan as a whole.
High-Frequency Socio-Economic Dashboard
The economic disruption brought on by COVID-19 demonstrated that annual data are not timely enough. The High-Frequency Socio-Economic Dashboard has similar measures broken down into four categories:
- COVID-19 Tracking,
- Business Climate,
- Labor Market, and
- Place.
There are six to eight indicators in each category, each of which has a story to tell. The indicators found within the dashboard are updated quarterly, monthly, or weekly. Where possible, we made the data available by county or metro area. The tool has many functions; for example, you can look at the entire history of the dataset, download a picture of the chart or the raw data, and overlay one chart with another from the dashboard. I encourage you to watch the video tutorial below to learn more about these features.
As for the data found in the dashboard, the COVID-19 Tracking category shows trends in COVID cases, testing, positivity rates, and vaccinations administered. This page will be with us for as long as we are in the pandemic, for our economic recovery will depend on containment of the virus. We cannot wait for the day the COVID-19 Tracking category is no longer needed.
The other three categories will be with us permanently. Business Climate features employment data by industry sector, business applications, and several datasets on small business. SEMCOG queried the Census Bureau’s Small Business Survey; which is an experimental survey of small businesses to understand the impact that COVID-19 has had on them. We selected three indicators: the overall impact of COVID on small business, the percentage of establishments closed, and small business needs over the next six months.
COVID-19’s Overall Impact on Small Businesses, Detroit Metro Area
Source: Census Small Business Pulse Survey.
Our Labor Market category contains data on our labor force and unemployment rate, average hourly earnings and weekly hours, and weekly unemployment claims. The Place category shows trends in building permits, housing prices, and mobility. Place also has data from the Census Bureau’s Household Pulse Survey, which is another experimental survey from the Census Bureau measuring the impact that COVID-19 has had on households. To start, we chose to show data on our region’s mental health – specifically depression and anxiety levels. More data from the Household Pulse Survey may be added in the future.
We hope you find these tools useful for your planning and programming needs. Please reach out if you have any questions or would like to see something new.
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