2013 U.S. Crude Oil Production Expected to Reach 20-Year High

Business Insider’s Chart of the Day uses data from the Energy Information Administration’s Short-Term Energy Outlook to illustrate the EIA’s projection for U.S. crude oil production.  2012 production is 6.3 million barrels per day (bbl/d).  The EIA predicts 2013 production will rise to its highest level in twenty years: 6.8 million bbl/d.  And while OPEC production represents 40% of the world’s oil supply, the EIA predicts OPEC production to drop significantly in 2013.  On the other hand, the Administration forecasts 2013 North American production to rise more than any other oil-producing region in the world.  The EIA also predicts global oil consumption to rise 0.9 million bbl/d to 89.94 million bbl/d.  Roughly half of this increase is due to Chinese oil consumption, which is predicted to climb 0.76 million bbl/d.

One in Two Youth in Spain is Unemployed

Business Insider’s Chart of the Day for May 2^nd highlighted a graph from Scott Barber and Thomson Reuters depicting youth unemployment rates in Europe.  Greece and Spain both possessed the highest rate, with more than one in two youth being unemployed.  These two nations are followed by Portugal Italy, and Ireland, with youth unemployment rates of 36.1%, 35.9%, and 30.3% respectively.  Germany, on the other hand, has weathered the economic recession quite well, and its youth unemployment rate has actually decreased since the recession began.  In comparison to the United States’ 16.4% rate, Germany, Malta, Austria, and the Netherlands are the only nations in the EU27 with a lower youth unemployment rate.  Overall, the Euro area possesses a 22.1% youth unemployment rate.

Percentage of African Americans in MLB Drops to Lowest Level Since 1940s

April 15^th marked Jackie Robinson Day in Major League Baseball.  Players across the nation wore number 42 – Robinson’s number – to celebrate the first man to break the color barrier back in 1947.  However, while the integration of baseball opened the floodgates to black players, in recent years, the percentage of blacks playing America’s pastime has declined. In 1995, 19% of players were black, but today, just 8.1% of major leaguers are black, a level not seen since the late 40s and early 50s.  Business Insider highlighted this trend in its chart of the day, and also noted that while black participation in baseball has steadily decreased, the percentage of Hispanics in MLB has doubled in the past 20 years.  

Housing Prices Continue to Fall

On March 27^th, Business Insider featured a chart of the Case-Shiller House Price Index.  The index compiles housing prices across twenty of the largest metropolitan areas of America.  An earlier Data in the News post focused on the Case-Shiller House Price Index and how housing prices have continued to fall after reaching a peak in late 2006.  This iteration of the Case-Shiller Index shows that prices have continued to drop.  Just as prices rose drastically beginning in early 1999, the Index shows how they plummeted just as quickly beginning in 2006.  This year, experts predicted an added 3.8% fall by this time of year, and the Case-Shiller Index illustrated a 3.78% decrease – very close to predictions.  Now prices are at levels seen in early 2003, but as Joe Weisenthal of Business Insider notes, “the bottom still hasn’t been hit.”  The index continues to trend downwards, but at a much slower rate than was seen directly after the housing bubble burst in late 2006.