Census survey: Hawaii has nation’s highest housing costs, D.C. second

October 13th, 2009 Foreclosures pose challenge, cost to census countLOS ANGELES — Foreclosures will make it tougher and more expensive to get an accurate census count next year as families move in with relatives or are left homeless, the Census Bureau's director said Tuesday. Director Robert Groves said he expects some of the census questionnaires mailed out in 2010 will land at empty homes in areas hard hit by the housing crisis.

September 23rd, 2009 Hawaii company to process final sugar harvestKAUMAKANI, Hawaii — Gay & Robinson Inc. says its final sugar cane harvest will be processed in late October, when the company will officially leave the sugar business after 119 years.

September 21st, 2009 Homeownership fell in '08; Asians hit worstLOS ANGELES — Asians, many of them living in foreclosure-ravaged California, suffered the sharpest drop in homeownership last year, eclipsing declines felt by whites, blacks and Hispanics, according to new Census data. The decline was surprising, because Asians tend to earn more than other minority groups and have less debt.

September 21st, 2009 Census: 150,000 gay couples report they're marriedWASHINGTON — Nearly 150,000 same-sex couples reported being in marriage relationships last year, many more than the number of actual weddings and civil unions, according to the first U.S. census figures released on same-sex marriages.

July 30th, 2009 Correction: Hawaii Health Insurance-GlanceHONOLULU — In a July 26 sidebar glance about Hawaii Health Insurance, The Associated Press reported erroneously the figures of those who reported in 2007 not seeing a doctor because of cost. Hawaii had the lowest percentage in the nation at 6 percent, not 0.06 percent.

July 20th, 2009 Voting rate dips in 2008 as older whites stay homeWASHINGTON — For all the attention generated by Barack Obama's candidacy, the share of eligible voters who actually cast ballots in November declined for the first time in a dozen years. The reason: Older whites with little interest in backing either Barack Obama or John McCain stayed home.

July 7th, 2009 Hawaii hotel occupancy drops to record lowHONOLULU — Despite steep discounting and unprecedented incentives, hotel occupancy in Hawaii continues to slide to new lows because of the slowed global economy, especially on the Big Island where only half of rooms were booked in May, according to a report released Monday. Hotel occupancy fell 6.9 percentage points to 62 percent in May, marking the worst May on record since Honolulu-based Hospitality Advisors LLC began its monthly survey in 1987.

June 30th, 2009 Locke hires 3 experts to help with 2010 censusWASHINGTON — With the 2010 census months away, Commerce Secretary Gary Locke on Tuesday hired three experts to assess potential problems as the government waits for confirmation of President Barack Obama's nominee to lead the high-stakes count. The experts, former officials with the Census Bureau, will help provide "an up-to-date assessment of the state of readiness and potential vulnerabilities" in the headcount in the areas of operations, overall management and field operations, he said.

June 4th, 2009 Recent Census hires by stateA state-by-state breakdown of Census Bureau field employee hires between Feb. 2 and May 2.

May 22nd, 2009 RANCHI - According to the latest census, there has been an increase in the elephant population in Jharkhand's Dalma sanctuary, officials said Friday. 'The rise of population of elephants in Dalma sanctuary is due to arrival of calves instead of migrant elephants,' said an official of the forest department.

May 14th, 2009 NEW DELHI - India's service sector is set to grow substantially in the next 12 months, though its business activity prospects remain lowest in the BRIC block comprising Brazil, Russia, India and China, says a survey by global auditing agency KPMG released Thursday. April's BRIC Business Outlook Survey, which covered around 1,400 service sector firms in the BRIC nations, said 31.1 percent of Indian companies saw their activity levels expanding, up from 15.3 percent last autumn.

May 5th, 2009 Top 25 Vacant NeighborhoodsA list of the 25 neighborhoods with the highest percentage of vacant homes, according to an Associated Press analysis of federal data. The AP analysis included only census tracts with more than 1,000 housing units and less than 5 percent vacation homes, according to the 2000 census.

April 27th, 2009 Survey: Gas prices hold steady in USCAMARILLO, Calif. — Gas prices in the U.S.

April 20th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - Pakistan is all set for its sixth national census, the first phase of which will be conducted April 27-May 11. This phase will cover 'house listing operations', while the second and main phase covering 'population and housing census' will be conducted in October, The News said Monday, quoting the government's Statistics Division.

February 21st, 2009 WASHINGTON - The 1.5 million Indian Americans in the US continue to top the US Census charts as the best-educated, highest-paid and top-placed community among the 38.1 million foreign-born population in the country. As per a fresh analysis of data on the foreign-born population from the 2007 American Community Survey, 74 percent of Indian-born US residents had bachelor's degree or higher, which was far more than the figure for people born in any other foreign country.