Small Area Economic Data from
the 2007 Economic Census and
Economic Surveys
APDU Annual Conference
The Brookings Institution
Thursday, September 24th, 2009
Presented by: Andrew W Hait and Patrice C. Norman
U.S. Census Bureau
Economic Planning & Coordination Division
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 Coverage
Economic Census Sector
States
Metro
Areas
Counties
Places
ZIPs
21: Mining
X
22: Utilities
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
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
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.
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Top “Winners” and “Losers”
250
200
150
100
50
0
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