*SMLR-Net, the source of selected news on labor and employment relations and human resource management.*

*Title:* The 2011 American Community Survey

*Author:* US Census Bureau

*Summary:* American Community Survey's annual data release provides statistics on population and housing characteristics, such as:

- Income and Earnings - Health Insurance - Poverty - and many more

*Link: *http://1.usa.gov/Q1TvsM * RELATED:* Headline/Title: Unemployment Rate Rises for Fifth Straight Month Date: Sept 21, 2012 Source:* *NJ Spotlight Link: http://bit.ly/S9n87F

*Summary: * With New Jersey’s unemployment rate rising to a new 35-year high of 9.9 percent, the Christie administration yesterday took aim at the methodology used to determine the rate, saying there is clearly something awry with the nationwide household survey used to come up with the numbers.

*Author:* Mark Magyar

*ALSO SEE:* Headline/Title: N.J.'s middle class shrinking under growing income gap, Census data shows Date: Sept. 21, 2012 Source:* *Star-Ledger Link: http://bit.ly/QrNxi0

*Summary: * New Jersey’s middle class has eroded in the last four years, further polarizing a state where the rich and the poor have long been miles apart on levels of income, if not on the map, new Census data shows.

A Star-Ledger analysis of four years of data from the American Community Survey shows the percentage of households with an annual income between $35,000 and $150,000 has dipped by nearly 3 percent since 2008, while the percentage of those richer and poorer has increase

*Author:* Stacy Jones and Stephen Stirling