Statistics are everywhere about the recession – jobs reports, labor reports, plans, studies, etc. Though many of these reports contain critical information about the state of the economy, often they are way too lengthy and involved – who really has time to read a 104 page PDF? The following infographics are great options for those who want to understand the economy but don’t have time to read a thesis.
Visual.ly – Economy Category – Visual.ly allows people to create and share data visualizations through its website. There are 284 infographics in the Economy section – from rates of African American male unemployment in New York City to how Internet sales tax laws affect you. The graphics are fascinating and really give you an idea of what people care to learn more about.
Washington Post – Unemployment Rate by County – The Washington Post has a graphic of the monthly change in unemployment by county where, by holding down a slider across each month from July 2010 to July 2011, you can see a map of the changes across every county in the United States. You can also put the graphic on autoplay and see the progression for the year in a matter of seconds.
Latoya Egwuekwe – The Geography of a Recession – This awesome video graphic of monthly unemployment rates by county from January 2007 to February 2011 seems to have been compiled by an everyday person from Bureau of Labor Statistics. Though some may want their statistics directly from an official source, watching unemployment take over county after county with each passing month in a two-minute video is quite shocking – regardless of the author.
Economic Policy Institute – The State of Working America – The Economic Policy Institute compiles graphical representations of data across issue areas that affect working people including jobs, income, and wages. The crown jewel of the site is an incredible graphic called “When income grows, who gains?” which shows the changes in income distribution in America from 1917 to 1996. These infographics are great options for those who care about the economy but would rather see than read.