The charts featured in this snapshot are a product of EImpact, a software company that communicates economic and labor market data, in addition to customized internal visualizations. EImpact’s data is largely sourced from Lightcast, formerly known as EMSI Burning Glass, in addition to data from Zillow, US Census Reporter, Neighborhood Scout, Porch, and American Community Survey.  Lightcast integrates data from government sources (for instance, Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Census Bureau, etc.), which are estimates based on survey data reported by public agencies. Lightcast’s figures may differ slightly from web queries due to proprietary analytics. For instance, Lightcast may integrate multiple sources for one indicator, or estimate data points that may be otherwise suppressed for privacy purposes. In addition, Lightcast forecasts population counts using a cohort model, which estimates census population counts based on birth rates, death rates, immigration patterns, and other factors. Further information on Lightcast’s methodology can be found in their Developer Knowledge base. Depending on the source, charts in this snapshot are updated and released in different time interval, per Lightcast’s release schedule.

Zip codes in Chart Titled “Jobs, Workforce, and Net Commuters by Planning Region”

Note: zip codes may overlap between planning areas as their boundaries do not completely align

Terms and Sources:

• Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) - part of the U.S. Department of Commerce, BEA produces economic accounts statistics that enable government and business decision-makers, researchers, and the American public to follow and understand the performance of the Nation's economy.
• Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS)- Unit of the United States Department of Labor. It is the principal fact-finding agency for the U.S. government in the broad field of labor economics and statistics and serves as a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System.
• Gross Regional Product (GRP)– the GDP for any region smaller than the United States. GRP measures the final market value of all goods and services produced in the region of study. GRP is calculated as sum of total industry earnings, taxes on production and imports, and profits, minus subsidies (GRP = earnings + TPI + profits – subsidies).
• Industry wages vs occupation wages - Industry wages and occupation wages are estimated via separate data sets, often the time periods being reported do not align, and wages are defined slightly differently in the two systems (for example, certain bonuses are included in the industry wages but not the occupation wages). It is therefore common that estimates of the average industry wages and average occupation wages in a region do not match exactly.
• Local Area Unemployment Statistics (LAUS)- Monthly BLS survey measuring household employment. Determines size of labor force and unemployment rate.
• Location quotient (LQ)- quantifies how concentrated a particular industry is in a region as compared to the nation. It is the percentage of jobs in one region (El Paso) divided by the percentage of jobs nationally. For example, if the leather products manufacturing industry accounts for 10% of jobs in an area but 1% of jobs nationally, then the area’s leather-producing industry has an LQ of 10. Thus, leather manufacturing accounts for a larger than average “share” of total jobs—the share is ten times larger than normal.
• Manufacturing - Consists of operations engaged in the transformation or assembly of raw materials and components into new products.
• National Council for Education Statistics (NCES) Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) - NCES is the primary federal entity for collecting and analyzing data related to education in the U.S. and other educational institutions. IPEDS is a system of interrelated surveys conducted annually by NCES that measures institution-level college completion rates.
• North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) - used to classify business establishments according to the type of economic activity. The NAICS Code comprises six levels, from the “all industry” level to the 6-digit level. The first two digits define the top-level category, known as the “sector,” which is the level examined in this report.
• Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW)– shows employment and wages by industry and ownership type at the state, regional, county, and municipal level. Measures gross job gains and losses at establishments and tracks changes in employment at the establishment level, including establishment openings, closings, expansions, and contractions.
• Standard Occupational Classification system (SOC) - used to classify workers into occupational categories. All workers are classified into one of over 804 occupations according to their occupational definition. To facilitate classification, occupations are combined to form 22 major groups, 95 minor groups, and 452 occupation groups. Each occupation group includes detailed occupations requiring similar job duties, skills, education, or experience.
• US Census (US Decennial Survey) - The Census’s Population Estimates Program produces estimates of the population of the United States. Lightcast uses the latest US Decennial Census population figures as a base, and estimates population by modeling estimated births, deaths, and migration. Lighcast uses Population Estimates nearly unchanged in the years for which they are available as the basis for demographics counts for the nation, states, and counties.

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