Small Area Economic Data from the 2007 Economic Census and

Economic Surveys

Presented by: Andrew W Hait and Patrice C. Norman

U.S. Census Bureau

Economic Planning & Coordination Division

APDU Annual ConferenceThe Brookings Institution

Thursday, September 24th, 2009

Economic Surveys vs. the Census

• Economic Indicators– Very timely– Limited data items– Limited NAICS and Geo levels shown

• Economic Surveys– Mostly annual– Slightly more data items and more NAICS– Still limited in Geo levels shown

The Economic Census

• The preeminent supplier of extremely detailed data about the US economy – Over 1,100 unique data items tabulated

and disseminated– Over 2,100 NAICS industries published at

2- thru 6-digit NAICS levels– Over 15,000 unique geographic areas

disseminated

Economic Census Geographies

• United States– States and equivalents

• Metro Areas– Counties and equivalents

» Places (cities, towns, villages, etc.)

» Consolidated Cities

» Independent Cities

» Part-Places

» “Balance of Counties”

• Regions and Divisions• Puerto Rico Commercial Regions• ZIP Codes

Econ Geographic CoverageEconomic Census Sector Stat

esMetroAreas

Coun-ties

Places

ZIPs

21: Mining X

22: Utilities X X

23: Construction X

31-33: Manufacturing X X X X

42: Wholesale Trade X X X X

44-45: Retail Trade X X X X X

48-49: Transportation and Warehousing X X

51: Information X X X X

52: Finance and Insurance X X

53: Real Estate and Rental and Leasing X X X X

54: Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services X X X X X

55: Management of Companies and Enterprise X

56: Admin. and Support and Waste Management and Remediation Services

X X X X X

61: Educational Services X X X X X

62: Health Care and Social Assistance X X X X X

71: Arts, Entertainment and Recreation X X X X X

72: Accommodation and Food Services X X X X X

81: Other Services (Except Public Administration) X X X X X

Issues with 2002 and Prior Censuses

• Only included incorporated places

• Large percentage of suppressed or dropped places due to small size of qualifying places

• Places with high econ activity but low population missed

Selected Findings from the 2002 Economic Census

• For the Retail Trade sector– Almost half of the states had more than 25% of

their establishments tabulated in the “Balance of County” and 10 had over 50%

• For the Manufacturing sector– 23% of the places nationwide were suppressed at

the 2-digit NAICS level, with 94% of these reporting < 5,000 employees

• For Maryland (all sectors)– < 1% of the published data were in places that

would be dropped if changed qualification criteria

Changes for the 2007 Economic Census

• Census Designated Places (CDPs) now included

• Significant econ activity in CDPs• “Penalized” states with small number of

incorporated cities

• Population cutoff standardized• Was 2,500 in most of US and 10,000 in “strong”

Minor Civil Division states; Now 5,000 for all states

Changes for 2007 (cont.)

• Jobs criteria added• Places with 5,000 or more jobs also now

included (just over 100)– Commerce, Industry, and Vernon, CA previously

covered in the Economic Census– Lake Buena Vista, FL (16 pop; 30,768 jobs)

• Geocoding to places “universe” as well as to Economic Places

• Will allow us to do special tabs of places with high employment but didn’t make the cut using sometimes old Pop and Jobs data.

Top “Winners” and “Losers”

0

50

100

150

200

250

Places "Lost" Places "Gained"

For More Information…

• Geo Changes by State Summaries– List of added and dropped places and metro area changes– http://www.census.gov/econ/census07/www/geography/geography_changes.html

For More Information…

• GeoNotes– List of geos with boundary or other changes– http://www.census.gov/econ/census07/www/geography/geonotes.html

For More Information…

• U.S., State, Metro, and County Maps– http://www.census.gov/econ/census07/www/geography/maps/

2002 Economic Census Data Release Schedule

• Industry Series: Selected national-level industry and product data by sector and industry (4/09 - 12/09)

• Geographic Area Series: Selected national-, state-, and other geographic-level data by sector, industry, and geography (11/09 – 8/10)

• Subjects and Summary Series: Selected summary data by sector (including Products, Size, and Misc. Subjects reports) (10/10 – 6/11)

• ZIP Codes: Number of Establishments by sales size for selected sectors (7/11)

Local Area Data and the Annual Economic Surveys

County Business Patterns

• Provides statistics annually at a detailed geographic level– Number of Establishments, Employment, First

Quarter Payroll, and Annual Payroll– 2- thru 6-digit NAICS levels– US, State, County, and Metro Area levels

• For 2007:– Number of Establishments – 7,705,018– Employment – 120,604,265– First Quarter Payroll - $1,274,971,624– Annual Payroll - $5,026,778,232

Noise Infusion for 2007 CBP

• Data perturbed at the establishment level by applying a noise multiplier– Done prior to tabulation– Applied to all data cells except Number of

Establishments

• Results in a relatively small change in vast majority of data cells

Noise Infusion Results

• No need to apply Complementary cell suppressions

• Has resulted in 10% more published data at the U.S. level for the 2007 CBP vs. the 2006 CBP

• More significant impact at the State, Metro Area, and County levels

Noise Infusion (cont.)

• Noise flag disseminated for each published data cell except Number of Establishments– “G” = low noise (<2%)– “H” = moderate noise (>2% but <5%)– >5% - data suppressed in table

Sample CBP Data

Upcoming CBP Enhancements

• New Legal Form of Organization breakout– Planned for 2008 CBP

• Island Area expansion– Current CBP only covers Puerto Rico– Expansion will incorporate other 4 Island

Areas into data products• American Samoa, Guam, Northern Mariana

Islands, and the US Virgin Islands

Nonemployer Statistics

• Provides statistics annually at detailed industry and geographic levels– Number of Firms and Receipts– 2- thru 6-digit NAICS levels– U.S., State, County, and Metro Area levels

• For 2007:– Number of Firms – 21,708,021– Receipts - $991,791,563

• Noise Infusion debuted with the 2005 Nonemployers data

Sample Nonemployers Data

Questions?

Andy Hait

(301)763-6747

Andrew.W.Hait@census.gov

Patrice Norman

(301)763-7198

Patrice.C.Norman@census.gov