Using BEA and BLS Data to Monitor Metropolitan Area Economic Performance¹

Article type: Research Article

Authors: Coomes, Paul A.^a | Olson, Dennis O.^a

Affiliations: [a] Department of Economics and Finance, University of Louisville, Louisville, KY 40292, USA

Note: [1] This research was conducted under a contract funded by the Campaign for Greater Louisville. We thank John Merchant for assistance in constructing and updating the earnings and employment data bases used in this project.

Abstract: Although personal income data for states are available on a timely basis, a comprehensive and timely measure of economic growth for cities does not exist. This paper develops a methodology for estimating current metropolitan area earnings by weighting the BLS metropolitan-area monthly job data by the most recently available BEA industry earnings data. The earnings-weighted job data are then used to construct an economic performance index to compare economic growth among metropolitan areas. To illustrate, we construct the index for the 75 largest U.S. metropolitan areas for the first quarter of 1990. We also examine metropolitan economic growth for the year 1989 and show how our index compares to simple job growth and personal income growth. Finally, earnings-weighted shift-share analysis is developed as a way of further examining the components of growth in a city.

DOI: 10.3233/JEM-1990-16304

Journal: Journal of Economic and Social Measurement, vol. 16, no. 3, pp. 167-183, 1990