Economic Census and related sourcesSarah CohenDuke University

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Economic data sources

From the Census Bureau•Economic Census every five years

•County Business Patterns every year

From the Bureau of Economic Analysis•Regional economic accounts (State, local GDP)

•Regional input-output modeling system (RIMS II - $270)

From Bureau of Labor Statistics•Quarterly Employment and Wages with location quotients

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Story examples

• How much does my area depend on one or a few businesses or industries? (location quotient)

• How likely are the projected jobs and tax revenue for new stadiums, economic development subsidies or a Wal-Mart?

• Estimate the effect of price spikes, shortages on your local area (localizing national stories)

• Quick way to understand the important drivers in a region or a new beat.

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More Stories

• Tampa Bay area was dependent on back office jobs. The story warned of the coming bust from offshore operations and automation.

• In the Washington area, the number of employees working for contractors was greater than the number working for the government.

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Economic vulnerability

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Concepts

• Based on where economic activity happens

• Usually excludes government

• Industry, not product, based.

• Establishments, not companies

• Confidentiality limits a lot of publication

• Overlapping sources and methods

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Source comparison

Sector Econ Census County Bus Pat Quarterly BLS

Agriculture No* No Yes

Government No* No Yes**

Self-employed, domestic

No No No

Small estabs (<5) Yes Yes No***

• The Census of Agriculture from the Agriculture Department and Census of Governments available from the Census Bureau can be added for basic data elements.

• BLS employment excludes active military and national intelligence agencies • BLS includes all establishments covered by unemployment insurance. Some

very small employers don’t have to cover their employees.

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Economic Census12:09

Basic industry data by state

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Useful ratios14:27

Industry series18:35

County business patterns

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Location quotients22:47

Zip codes – industry

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Quarterly Emp & Wages

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Location quotient calculator

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Getting other QEW data

• Use multi-screen, not the single screen.

• Tables very difficult to read – save the series codes and do it that way.

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Change the display

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Regional economic accounts

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Metro area GDP

• State and metro area GDP estimates – based on production areas, easy to use

• Local (county) personal income estimates, adjusted to reflect where people live, not where they get their money

• Includes sources of income and does not shield as much data.

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RIMS

• Lets you estimate for yourself economic impacts.

• Useful for government economic development spending, loss of industry, new stadiums

• Very complex, costs $275 for your area, but may be worth the investment to understand it.

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