Published Apr-4-2013
In 2012, employment slipped by 0.5, or a loss of 110 jobs, worse than the gain of 80 jobs estimated earlier.
Other revised employment data includes annual average employment change by industry. These data give us an overview of broad industry trends, excluding seasonal trends that impact many sectors.
Graph 2 shows Coos County's annual average employment change by broad published industry sector. Educational and health services showed the largest gain in 2012, up by 120. This figure was stronger than earlier estimates, gaining 60 jobs over the year. Manufacturing also revealed a larger gain than previously estimated, up by 40 jobs on an annual average basis. Local education rose by 30 in 2012. Professional and business services saw a larger downward revision, only gaining 20 jobs in 2012. Early estimates pegged the gain at 160. New data show this sector posted stronger growth in 2011 than earlier figures had estimated. Construction, state government, retail trade, and financial activities all lost jobs on an annual average basis in 2012, and all of these industries were slightly weaker than the originally estimated trends showed. Local government, while still dropping 110 jobs in 2012, was a bit stronger than the loss of 210 that was estimated earlier.
In Curry County, earlier estimates showed annual average 2011 employment declining by 2.1 percent. Revisions put that decline at 1.9 percent.
Earlier estimates pegged 2012 employment rising by 0.3 percent. Revised data based on the current benchmark showed exactly the same change, an increase of 20 jobs, or a gain of 0.3 percent. While a gain of 20 jobs may not seem significant, the notable fact is that this gain snaps Curry County's six-year job loss streak. Curry County payroll employment peaked in 2005 and lost jobs every year until 2012. To put it another way, one out of seven jobs that were in the county in 2005 are gone, even with the uptick in 2012.
Graph 4 shows industry sector employment trends on an annual average basis between 2011 and 2012 in Curry County. Retail trade added 40 jobs over the year, down slightly from the gain of 70 originally estimated. On the other hand, leisure and hospitality was revised upward to 30 jobs from the unchanged employment based on earlier estimates. Educational and health services added 30 jobs in 2012, just as the earlier estimates showed. Construction, mining and logging, and professional and business services posted slight increases, essentially in line with what previous figures indicated. Financial activities, other services, state government and local government posted declines in 2012.
Local government lost 50 jobs in 2012. Since 2005, local government in Curry County declined by 7.8 percent, roughly one-half of the percent decline of total payroll employment. Non-education local government employment actually increased from 600 in 2005 to 610 in 2012. Local government education employment declined by 100 jobs over that time, or a 22.7 percent decrease in just seven years.
