News Briefs 

Both the Census Bureau and the Bureau of Labor Statistics have new top administrators.  Steve Murdock, former state demographer of Texas, succeeded Louis Kincannon as Census Bureau director on Jan. 4.   Keith Hall, who served as the Commerce Department’s chief economist, was confirmed as Commissioner of Labor Statistics, succeeding Kathleen Utgoff, who resigned in mid-2006.

Plan to attend NABE’s new, expanded Professional Development Seminar on economic statistics.  “Economic Analysis:  Quality Data, Meaningful Results” will be held on June 16-18 at the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas in Dallas, Texas.  At your request, we’ve taken the traditional seminar and added sessions on regional, industry, and international data.  Other sessions cover the GDP accounts, employment, flow of funds, housing, price indexes, and corporate profits.  Plus, we added an optional skills session on decomposition analysis—seasonality, trends, and cycles.  Registration and the seminar brochure are now online.

The January 2008 NABE Industry Survey has received some terrific media coverage since its release on Jan. 22. Survey spokesman Ken Simonson, chief economist at the Associated General Contractors of America, was interviewed by Bloomberg Radio and TV, the Marketplace Morning Report, CNN Radio, the Wall Street Journal Radio Network, Voice of America Radio, and Biz Radio Network (Houston-Dallas-Fort Worth). Other outlets that have covered the survey include National Public Radio, the Chicago Tribune, the Dallas Business Journal, Fox Business Channel, the Las Vegas Business Press, the Guardian (UK), and the Houston Business Journal.

The April lst deadline is fast approaching for nominations for the 2008 Julius Shiskin Memorial Award for Economic Statistics. Contributions are recognized for statistical research, development of statistical tools, application of information technology techniques, use of economic statistical programs, management of statistical programs, or developing public understanding of measurement issues. A nomination form and a list of all previous recipients are available on the ASA website or by writing to the Julius Shiskin Award Committee, Attn: Monica Clark, American Statistical Association, 732 North Washington Street, Alexandria, Va. 22314-1943.  Completed nominations must be received by April 1, 2008. For further information contact Steven Paben, Julius Shiskin Award Committee secretary.

Mark your calendar for the 2008 Skills Seminars.  "Econometrics for the Business Analyst" will be held on Aug. 19-22 at the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston.  Information about the seminar and online registration are now available.  "Advanced Statistical Techniques for Economic Forecasting" will be held on Oct. 27-30 at the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco.  Information will be online soon. Both seminars are hands-on, so plan to bring your laptop.

NABE sponsored two sessions at the Allied Social Science Associations (ASSA) meeting Jan. 4-6, in New Orleans.  One session focused on monetary policy from a global perspective and the other on stock options in the national income and product accounts.  Former NABE President Rosemary Marcuss, Bureau of Economic Analysis, presided at the stock options session, and speakers were Cynthia Glassman, Department of Commerce; S.P. Kothari, Massachusetts Institute of Technology; and R. Glenn Hubbard, Columbia University, as the discussant.  Kevin Kliesen, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, presided at the monetary policy session.  Speakers on that panel were: Kazumasa Iwata, Bank of Japan; Donald Kohn, Federal Reserve Board; Lucas Papademos, European Central Bank; and Michael Woodford, Columbia University, as the discussant.  See the details here. http://nabe.com/publib/assa2008.html.