Serious Datawhack on the Techno-Optimists: "Technology shakes up US economy"

The headline is a bit of an homage to 'Adam Smith' (George J.W. Goodman) who used "Digital Datawhack" as one of his exemplar investments.
From the Financial Times, a timely look at one of the most interesting sources of agglomerated econ data:

New technologies are transforming the structure of the US economy but creating only modest numbers of jobs, according to the biggest official survey of businesses, conducted only once every five years.

The 2012 economic census shows how technology is creating a boom in output for new industries – such as shale gas and internet retail – but only a modest increase in their payrolls.

It highlights concerns that recent innovations in information technology tend to raise productivity by replacing existing workers, rather than creating new products that demand more labour to produce....MUCH MORE

...The economic census is the business equivalent of the decennial survey of the population, covering the US in precise industry and geographic detail, and provides the basic structure for the national accounts. Only the national summary was released on Wednesday.

Over this year and next, the Census Bureau will publish detailed reports on each industry and geography. “We will be putting out about 40bn data cells in total,” said Mr Bostic....

HT: FT Alphaville's The Closer post