Small Area Economic Data from the 2007 Economic Census and Economic Surveys

1. 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

2. 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

3. 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

4. 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

5. Econ Geographic Coverage

6. 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

7. 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

8. 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

9. 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.

10. Top “Winners” and “Losers”

11. 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

12. For More Information… • GeoNotes • List of geos with boundary or other changes • http://www.census.gov/econ/census07/www/geography/geonotes.html

13. For More Information… • U.S., State, Metro, and County Maps • http://www.census.gov/econ/census07/www/geography/maps/

14. 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)

15. Local Area Data and the Annual Economic Surveys

16. 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

17. 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

18. 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

19. 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

20. Sample CBP Data

21. 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

22. 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

23. Sample Nonemployers Data

24. Questions? Andy Hait (301)763-6747 Andrew.W.Hait@census.gov Patrice Norman (301)763-7198 Patrice.C.Norman@census.gov