SOURCES: The data for this interactive graphic was compiled by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, the Missouri Department of Economic Development and the Illinois Department of Employment Security.

It was adapted by Post-Dispatch interactive designers Brian Williamson and Erica Smith. The graphic, a snapshot of area employment, reflects the counties and cities where the employed and unemployed reside and not, necessarily, the business locations where they work or worked.

A graphic of the national employment scene, designed by TIP Strategies, provided the inspiration for the map.

Every month, the St. Louis Police Department releases crime data from the previous month. I take that information, pull out the homicides and add them to our city homicide map.

The data released today included one November 2008 homicide, one June 2009 homicide, one July 2009 homicide and 18 October 2009 homicides. (Homicides are recorded on the map according to the date of the incident, but the November, June and July deaths likely were not classified as homicides until last month.)

Our data goes back to 2005; and this is the bloodiest October we have seen in the city. It also pushes the year’s total past 100. Looking at the numbers for the past four years, St. Louis averages 14 homicides in November and 11.75 homicides in December. If those numbers hold true for 2009, the annual total will exceed the number of homicides reported in 2005, 2006 and 2007.

We…

Veterans Day is Nov. 11. More than 3 million Americans, including veterans of every war and conflict from the Revolutionary War to the War on Terrorism, are honored by burial in national cemeteries. The first 14 national cemeteries were set up during the Civil War. Today, more than 140 national cemeteries have been established. There are three in Missouri, including Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery in St. Louis, and seven in Illinois.

Also take a look at America’s foreign cemeteries. There are 24 permanent American burial grounds on foreign soil: 30,921 World War I and 93,238 World War II soldiers are interred at 22 of those cemeteries. In addition, 5,364 Americans who died during the construction of the Panama Canal are interred at Corozal American Cemetery in Panama City, and 750 unidentified U.S. veterans of the Mexican War are interred at the Mexico City National Cemetery in Mexico City.

Maps by Erica…

Virtually every account about the Tuskegee Airmen — the only black fighter group during World War II — notes just eight Purple Hearts. Over the years, that number has been cited in innumerable accounts and books. But with more than 450 black pilots serving in Europe, and dozens of airmen missing and killed in action, that low number doesn’t seem to make sense.

After reviewing a government database, military records and other sources, the Post-Dispatch has found more than 50 Tuskegee Airmen who earned a Purple Heart during World War II, including three airmen from St. Louis: James McCullin, Christopher Newman and Norvell Stoudmire.

We have created site dedicated to providing an accurate account of those who were awarded a Purple Heart:

• Learn more about each man who was awarded a Purple Heart.
• Explore interactive timelines for each squadron.
• See photos of the airmen training at Tuskegee Army Air Field, Ala., and in combat in…

On Aug. 3, 87 Metro buses returned to the streets. The transit agency is using $12 million in federal stimulus money approved by Missouri legislators to restore more than a third of the bus service cuts it made in March. An additional $3.8 million in federal funds is going to the agency over two years.

Explore an interactive map of Metro’s new and revised bus routes.

Map by Erica Smith

The state has more than 300 tattoo shops and more than 1,500 tattooists. Jackson County has the most tattoo shops, followed by St. Louis and Greene counties.

Map by Erica Smith