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 Outline of Analysis
| Indiana County vs. Pennsylvania Comparative Trends Analysis: Total Employment Growth and Change, 1969-2017 Introduction  Indiana County: 2017 Jobs = 44,205 2017 Percent of State = 0.6% Pennsylvania: 2017 Jobs = 7,685,285 2017 Percent of State = 3.9% Employment numbers remain the most popular and frequently cited statistics used for tracking local area economic conditions and trends. The Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) employment estimates reported measure the number of full- and part-time wage and salary employees, plus the number of proprietors of unincorporated businesses. People holding more than one job are counted in the employment estimates for each job they hold. This means BEA employment estimates represent a job count, not a people count. Also, BEA employment is by place-of-work, rather than by place-of-residence. Jobs held by neighboring county residents who commute to Indiana County to work are included in the employment count for Indiana County. Data Definition: The BEA employment series for states and local areas comprises estimates of the number of jobs, full-time plus part-time, by place of work. Full-time and part-time jobs are counted at equal weight. Employees, sole proprietors, and active partners are included, but unpaid family workers and volunteers are not included. Proprietors employment consists of the number of sole proprietorships and the number of partners in partnerships. The description "by place of work" applies to the wage and salary portion of the series and, with relatively little error, to the entire series. The proprietors employment portion of the series, however, is more nearly by place of residence because, for nonfarm sole proprietorships, the estimates are based on IRS tax data that reflect the address from which the proprietor's individual tax return is filed, which is usually the proprietor's residence. The nonfarm partnership portion of the proprietors employment series reflects the tax-filing address of the partnership, which may be either the residence of one of the partners or the business address of the partnership. The employment estimates are designed to be consistent with the estimates of wage and salary disbursements and proprietors' income that are part of the personal income series. The employment estimates are based on the same sets of source data as the corresponding earnings estimates and are prepared with parallel methodologies. Two forms of proprietors' income-the income of limited partnerships and the income of tax-exempt cooperatives-have no corresponding employment estimates. Total Employment, 1969-2017  Figure 1. Figure 1 traces Indiana County's annual total employment for the period 1969-2017 to illustrate total employment patterns over time. During this 49-year period, Indiana County's total employment rose from 25,755 in 1969 to 44,205 in 2017, for a net gain of 18,450, or 71.6%. Total Employment, 1969-2017  Figure 2. Figure 2 tracks Pennsylvania's annual total employment for the period 1969-2017 to illustrate total employment patterns over time. During this 49-year period, Pennsylvania's total employment rose from 5,249,940 in 1969 to 7,685,285 in 2017, for a net gain of 2,435,345, or 46.4%. Total Employment Indices (1969=100): 1969-2017  Figure 3. Figure 3 shows Indiana County's total employment growth in a broader context by offering direct comparisons across time with Pennsylvania, the United States. The growth indices shown here express each region's total employment in 1969 as a base figure of 100, and the total employments in later years as a percentage of the 1969 base figure. This method allows for more direct comparison of differences in total employment growth between regions that may differ vastly in size. Indiana County's overall total employment growth was 71.6% over 1969-2017 outpaced Pennsylvania's increase of 46.4%, and fell below the United States' increase of 115.4%. Total Employment as a Percent of the Pennsylvania Total: 1969-2017  Figure 4. Another interesting and insightful way of comparing the total employment growth of Indiana County is to compare its individual percentage contributions to Pennsylvania's statewide total employment over time, as shown in Figure 4. A rising share means a region's total employment grew faster, or declined less, than Pennsylvania's total employment, while a declining share shows it grew more slowly. In 1969, Indiana County's total employment totaled 0.49% of Pennsylvania's total employment, while in 2017 it equated to 0.58% thereby yielding a +0.08% share-shift.
Indiana County Total Employment: Annual Percent Change, 1970-2017  Figure 5. Figure 5 shows the short-run pattern of Indiana County's total employment growth by tracking the year-to-year percent change over 1970-2017. The average annual percent change for the entire 48-year period is also traced on this chart to provide a benchmark for gauging periods of relative high--and relative low--growth against the backdrop of the long-term average. On average, Indiana County's total employment grew at an annual rate of 1.16% over 1970-2017. The county posted its highest growth in 1976 (6.88%) and posted its lowest growth in 2016 (-3.74%). In 2017, Indiana County's total employment grew by 0.28% Indiana County Total Employment: Annual Percent Change and Decade Averages Over 1970-2017  Figure 6. Over the past four decades some counties have experienced extreme swings in growth, and often such swings have tended to coincide with the decades themselves. Figure 6 again shows the annual percent change in Indiana County's total employment since 1970, but this time they are displayed with average growth rates for the decade of the 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, 2000s, and 2010-2017. During the 1970s, Indiana County's annual total employment growth rate averaged 3.73%. It averaged 0.34% in the 1980s, 0.97% throughout the 1990s, 1.03% throughout the 2000s, and -0.63% thus far this decade (2010 to 2017). Total Employment Growth: Average Annual Percent Change by Decade  Figure 7. Figure 7 compares the decade average growth rates for Indiana County noted in the previous graph with the corresponding decade averages for Pennsylvania and the nation. As the chart reveals, Indiana County's average annual total employment growth outperformed Pennsylvania's average during the 1970s (3.73% vs. 0.77%), lagged Pennsylvania's average throughout the 1980s (0.34% vs. 0.95%), recorded above Pennsylvania's average during the 1990s (0.97% vs. 0.85%), topped Pennsylvania's average throughout the 2000s (1.03% vs. 0.50%), and posted below Pennsylvania's average over the 8 year period of the last decade, 2010-2017 (-0.63% vs. 0.99%). Finally, relative to nationwide total employment growth trends, Indiana County topped the nation throughout the 1970s (3.73% vs. 2.21%), posted below the nation throughout the 1980s (0.34% vs. 1.88%), recorded underneath the nation throughout the 1990s (0.97% vs. 1.73%), outgained the nation over the 2000s (1.03% vs. 0.74%), and fell under the nation over 2010-2017 (-0.63% vs. 1.54%). Job Ratios (Employment/Population): 1969-2017  Figure 8. The job ratios shown in Figure 8 for Indiana County, Pennsylvania and the nation not only portray a number of important trends, they also serves as a thumbnail guide to evaluating an economy's capacity to generate enough jobs fast enough to absorb the increasing number of workers attendant to a growing population. The job ratio is the number of full-time and part-time jobs by place of work, divided by population. Nationally, the job ratio rose from 0.45 to 0.60 between 1969 and 2017. Indiana County's job ratio registered 0.33 in 1969, and 0.52 in 2017. Underlying the rising job ratio over the past several decades have been the increases in the labor force participation rates, with the number and proportion of women in the labor market playing a leading role. An assortment of other factors can contribute to regional differences in the job ratio. They include differences in the proportion of elderly and retirees who no longer work and participate in the labor force, differences in the number and proportion of part-time vs. full-time workers, differences in industry composition, and differences in age and sex distribution and degree of urbanization. Also, a disproportionate number of workers commuting to work outside a county tends to lower its local county job ratio, while a net inflow of workers commuting to work inside the county tends to augment its local county job ratio. Avoid interpreting the job ratio as the fraction (or percent) of the local population employed. This interpretation should only apply to the "employment-population ratio" statistic compiled by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) from the Current Population Survey (CPS). Job Ratios (Employment/Population) as a Percent of the U.S. Average: 1969-2017  Figure 9. To highlight trends in a local job ratio relative to nationwide trends, Figure 9 tracks Indiana County's, Pennsylvania's job ratio as a percent of the national job ratio over 1969-2017.
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