February 1st, 2016
This week we review our proprietary DIVER Geo Score, highlight the best and worst performing States as well as provide you a link to get the scores themselves.
January Geo Scores
Today, we released the most recent DIVER Geo Scores for States, counties and cities. The DIVER Geo Score represents a relative score of the economic health of a U.S. State, county or city. Based on a scale of 0-10, with 10 being the best, this data is updated monthly and is calculated from multiple economic and demographic factors related to three primary data categories—employment, income and housing.
The DIVER Geo Scores are available here.
While economies in Indiana, Florida and Michigan are weaker than the national average, they have shown strong improvement over the last year.
The list of worst performing states continues to be dominated by energy and commodity dependent States: Texas, Alaska, Louisiana, West Virginia, Oklahoma and Kentucky.
These State level trends are echoed in the county level Geo Score data.
Florida counties account for five out of the top ten most improved counties over the last year. Interestingly, one of the worst performing counties, Sumter, is also located in Florida.
As measured by the Geo Score, Sumter’s economy lagged Florida and the rest of the nation for most of 2015. An uptick in foreclosures triggered the most recent decline in Sumter’s Geo Score.
Three out of the ten most improved counties are in Indiana: Wayne, Floyd and Kosciusko. The City of Warsaw, which has been dubbed the “Orthopedics Capital of the World”, is located in Kosciusko County. Its largest employer is Zimmer Biomet, a company that manufactures medical devices.
Texas and Louisiana account for half of the worst performing counties. An increasing unemployment rate is among the indicators signaling weakness in these areas.
State of Texas Unemployment by County – (As of November 2015)
Source: DIVER Analytics, Bureau of Labor Statistics
Chart of the Week: Total 15c2-12 Filings by Month
Issuers made fewer 15c2-12 filings during January 2016 than during January 2015 or January 2014, but at a faster pace than prior years.
Have a great week,
Michael Craft, CFA
January 2016 Geo Scores
February 1st, 2016
This week we review our proprietary DIVER Geo Score, highlight the best and worst performing States as well as provide you a link to get the scores themselves.
January Geo Scores
Today, we released the most recent DIVER Geo Scores for States, counties and cities. The DIVER Geo Score represents a relative score of the economic health of a U.S. State, county or city. Based on a scale of 0-10, with 10 being the best, this data is updated monthly and is calculated from multiple economic and demographic factors related to three primary data categories—employment, income and housing.
The DIVER Geo Scores are available here.
While economies in Indiana, Florida and Michigan are weaker than the national average, they have shown strong improvement over the last year.
The list of worst performing states continues to be dominated by energy and commodity dependent States: Texas, Alaska, Louisiana, West Virginia, Oklahoma and Kentucky.
These State level trends are echoed in the county level Geo Score data.
Florida counties account for five out of the top ten most improved counties over the last year. Interestingly, one of the worst performing counties, Sumter, is also located in Florida.
As measured by the Geo Score, Sumter’s economy lagged Florida and the rest of the nation for most of 2015. An uptick in foreclosures triggered the most recent decline in Sumter’s Geo Score.
Three out of the ten most improved counties are in Indiana: Wayne, Floyd and Kosciusko. The City of Warsaw, which has been dubbed the “Orthopedics Capital of the World”, is located in Kosciusko County. Its largest employer is Zimmer Biomet, a company that manufactures medical devices.
Texas and Louisiana account for half of the worst performing counties. An increasing unemployment rate is among the indicators signaling weakness in these areas.
State of Texas Unemployment by County – (As of November 2015)
Source: DIVER Analytics, Bureau of Labor Statistics
Chart of the Week: Total 15c2-12 Filings by Month
Issuers made fewer 15c2-12 filings during January 2016 than during January 2015 or January 2014, but at a faster pace than prior years.
Have a great week,
Michael Craft, CFA