Education Achievement Rankings

 

Teachers' Views on Student Achievement (by state)

 

Students Enter Class Prepared for On-Grade Level Work

 

1.        Montana               20%

2.        Wyoming              20%

3.        Idaho                    18%

4.        Utah                       15%

5.        Colorado               14%

6.        Arizona                  13%

7.        Nevada                  13%

8.        New Mexico          10%

 

Percent of Students Prepared to Succeed in College

1.        Montana               72.5%

2.        Colorado               71.5%

3.        Utah                       71.2%

4.        Idaho                     70.4%

5.        Wyoming               70.0%

6.        Arizona                  67.0%

7.        New Mexico          64.4%

8.        Nevada                  62.4%

 

Source: Primary Sources, Scholastic and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, 2010, Sorting by Bonneville Research.

Global Business Confidence +

Global business sentiment continues to signal that the global economy is experiencing a modest recovery. Businesses are upbeat when broadly assessing current conditions and the outlook through this summer, but remain cautious in their assessment of sales strength, hiring and inventories. South Americans are the most upbeat and North Americans the most nervous. Sentiment is well above the bottom hit a year ago, but remains just below what has historically been consistent with a self-sustaining economic expansion.

GDP: 5.9%
There was an upward revision to GDP growth in the fourth quarter of 2009. Real GDP rose 5.9% at a seasonally adjusted annualized rate in the fourth quarter, according to the BEA's second estimate; in the advance release in January, the reported increase was 5.7%. The upward revision was in line with expectations. This came from upward revisions to inventories, exports and business investment, which more than offset an upward revision to imports and downward revisions to consumer and state and local government spending. This was the strongest quarter of economic growth in more than six years.

Productivity and Costs: 6.9%
Productivity growth for the fourth quarter was revised higher, to 6.9% (SAAR), above the consensus forecast; this compares with 6.2% growth in the preliminary release. The revision was due to a larger gain in output and a smaller increase in aggregate hours. Unit labor costs saw a larger decline with the revisions; they fell 5.9% (SAAR) in the fourth quarter, compared with the previously reported 4.4% drop. Productivity growth is strong as the U.S. economy comes out of recession, with no inflationary pressures coming from the labor market, and falling unit labor costs are boosting profits.

Personal Income: 0.1%
Personal income rose a slight 0.1% in January following downwardly revised growth of 0.3% in December. It was the slowest growth since September. Wage income growth accelerated to 0.4% but was downwardly revised for prior months. Spending rose 0.5%, led by nondurable goods. The saving rate dropped sharply to 3.3%. Real spending rose 0.3%. The core PCE deflator was unchanged, while the top-line deflator rose 0.2%.

Agricultural Prices: -4.3%
The all-farm products index of prices received by farmers decreased 4.3% in February from a month earlier. The crop index fell 4.6%, while overall livestock and products prices were unchanged. Farmers received lower prices for corn, soybeans, lettuce and eggs, but sold cattle, oranges, onions and sweet corn at higher prices. The all-farm products index is up 5.6% from February 2009, however. Food commodities fell 4.3% on the month but are 8.2% more expensive than one year ago. Prices paid by farmers increased 0.5% this month and stand 3.4% above prices last February. Farmers paid less for diesel, feed grains, mixed fertilizer and concentrates. Complete feeds, nitrogen, feeder cattle and feeder pigs cost them more.

 

Construction Spending (C30): -0.6%
Construction spending for January fell by 0.6% from December, in line with expectations. Total spending in January is also 9.3% below its January 2009 level. The decline in construction spending was led by a fall in private nonresidential construction spending, which more than offset a moderate increase in residential construction. Public construction spending also fell for the month, highlighting the continued fiscal tightening by state and local governments.

Jobless Claims: -29,000
Initial claims for unemployment insurance decreased by 29,000 to 469,000 for the week ending February 27. This was a move back toward normal, as claims had been disrupted by recently severe weather patterns. Meanwhile, continuing claims decreased by 134,000 to 4.5 million for the week ending February 20.

Monster Employment Index: +
After one year of showing almost no improvement, online recruitment surged in February, evidence that some employers are gaining confidence in the economic recovery. The Monster employment index, measuring help-wanted ads placed online by U.S. employers, increased sharply during February. Experiencing its single largest gain on record, the national index climbed 10 points over the month. Fifteen of the 20 industries tracked by the index reported an uptick in recruitment from January to February. Moreover, the increase in recruitment occurred in all regions of the nation, although West South Central states as a group encountered the sharpest rise.

Factory Orders (M3): +1.7%
Factory orders rose 1.7% in January, exactly matching consensus expectations. This followed a 1.5% rise in December. Durable goods orders were revised lower since the first release, rising 2.6%. Orders for nondurable goods were up 0.9%, led by price increases for petroleum and coal products. Durable goods shipments also were revised lower, falling 0.4%. Durable goods inventories were unchanged from the first release and were flat over the month. The 0.4% increase in nondurable inventories pushed total inventories up 0.2%. With the revisions to the first release, core capital goods orders and shipments fell over the month by 4.1% and 1.7%, respectively.  

ISM Manufacturing Index:- 1.9
Although moderating, manufacturing's expansion is intact. The Institute for Supply Management's manufacturing index declined from 58.4 to 56.5 for February. The larger than anticipated decline was led by new orders and production. Other details were much more upbeat. The employment index increased from 53.3 to 56.1, a strong indication that manufacturing will be a positive for nonfarm employment for the second consecutive month. The inventories index increased by less than 1 point in February. Overall, the February survey is consistent with additional gains in industrial production and is generally consistent with our forecast for a 2.5% increase in real GDP.

Semiconductor Billings: +0.3%
Global semiconductor sales edged up in January. The three-month moving average of sales increased to $22.5 billion, up 0.3% from the previous month. In year-ago terms, the pace of increase accelerated to an impressive 47.2%.

Challenger Report: 42,090
The February Challenger report brought welcome news for the labor market. Job cuts fell to their lowest since July 2006. Employers announced cuts affecting 42,090 workers, down from 71,482 in January and 77% below the number compiled for February 2009. The abatement in job cuts is only half of the labor market equation, however; hiring remains depressed.

Bankruptcy Filings: 23.8%
Business and personal bankruptcy filings fell in the fourth quarter. For personal filings, this was the first quarterly decline since the immediate aftermath of bankruptcy reform. Filings were still well above their year-ago level. Personal filings were 24% above last year and 7% below the average level of filings from 2001 through 2004, before reform legislation and in a far better credit environment. Business bankruptcies were up 32% from 2008, despite falling for the second consecutive quarter.

Existing-Home Sales: 5.05 mil
Housing is starting off the year on very weak footing. Following the plunge in new-home sales that was reported earlier this week, sales of existing homes slid by an unexpectedly sharp 7% from December. At an annualized 5.05 million units, sales have fallen back to their mid-2009 pace. The decline in sales drove the months of inventory up to 7.8. The median existing-house price was flat y/y, despite the weakness in sales.

Pending Home Sales: -7.6%
Contracts signed for the sale of an existing home plunged in January, matching expectations for a drop-off in sales following the expiration of the first-time homebuyer tax credit last year. From December to January, the pending home sales index declined by 7.6% to a level of 90.4. Pending sales in the West census region experienced the largest decline over the month, falling 13.2%, although all four census regions shared in the drop. On a year-ago basis, pending home sales increased 12.3%.

MBA Mortgage Applications Survey: +14.6%
In the week ending February 26, all three mortgage application indices showed improvement. The MBA market index increased 14.6% from the week before, ending at 629.9. The refinance index was the big gainer, increasing 17.2% to finish at 3,054.3. The purchase index rose to 214.5, an increase of 9% from the previous week.

Chain Store Sales:+ 3.7%
Chain store sales rose 3.7% in February, well above expectations but not enough to reverse the decline in the prior year. Results came despite major winter storms, which limited sales at many retailers. Support came from easy comparisons, limited inventory allowing less discounting, more consumer spending, and favorable gasoline price trends. Nonetheless, consumer fundamentals remain weak, spending growth will be limited, and conditions will be difficult for retailers well into the year.

Vehicle Sales - AutoData: -.4 mil
Light vehicle sales were dampened in February by the severe winter weather. They declined to 10.4 million units (SAAR), from 10.8 million in January. Abstracting from the impact of the weather, underlying demand is slowly rebounding. Also, although retail sales were cut sharply by the winter storms, automakers sold more vehicles to fleets. March sales will likely exceed 11 million units and could reach as high as 12 million units as more sales are shifted from February.

Oil and Gas Inventories: 341.6 mil barrels
Crude oil inventories rose by 4.1 million barrels for the week ending February 26, far surpassing the consensus estimate for a 1.3 million-barrel build. Gasoline inventories rose by 700,000 barrels, slightly above the consensus estimate. Distillate inventories fell by 900,000, consistent with expectations. Refinery operating capacity unexpectedly surged to 81.9% from 81.2%. Petroleum demand rose. This report should affirm the recent increase in oil prices.

Weekly Natural Gas Storage Report: -126 bcf
Working gas in underground storage fell by 126 billion cubic feet during the week ending February 19, slightly more than the consensus expectation of a 116 bcf decline. Thursday's report will not have a significant influence on natural gas prices.

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