Improve economic vitality of businesses and individuals

Description: The State Population Survey allows for the cross-tabulation of age and labor force and employment status. The indicator is the ratio of employed individuals aged 25 to 54 to all individuals 25 to 54 years of age.

Source:
Office of Financial Management
   State Population Survey

Description: A statistical model is constructed that uses personal income and other socioeconomic data to update Census estimates of median household income. Income is deflated using the price index for personal consumption expenditures.

Sources:
Office of Financial Management
   Median Household Income Estimates by County
U.S. Census Bureau

Description: The indicator illustrates how the poverty rate is changing annually. A positive number indicates the poverty rate has increased relative to the previous year, while a negative number represents a decline in the poverty rate.

These data are based on poverty estimates from the Current Population Survey. Poverty rates indicate the proportion of the population that is living below an estimated poverty level. The Census Bureau calculates poverty thresholds that vary by family size and composition.

The sample size of the Current Population Survey is small for any given state. This results in large margins of error for the estimates of state poverty rates. In order to minimize this problem, the indicator is based on differences in three-year averages for poverty rates. The confidence intervals about these averages, however, are still relatively large.

Description: This index tracks movements in business costs per dollar of output (gross state product) in Washington. Business costs include all employee compensation, indirect business taxes, and energy costs. An upward movement in the index indicates that business costs are rising faster than the value of output (i.e., costs per dollar of output are increasing). A downward movement in the index indicates that unit costs are declining, suggesting profitability is increasing.

Compensation of employees includes wages and salaries and supplements to wages and salaries. Supplements to wages and salaries consist of employer contributions for social insurance (e.g., unemployment insurance, workers' compensation) and other labor income (e.g., private pension and health plans). Indirect business tax is the sum of state and local indirect business taxes, which mainly comprise non-personal property taxes, licenses, non-tax liabilities, and sales and gross receipt taxes, and federal indirect business taxes. Energy costs are the annual expenditures on energy by non-residential users. This includes energy expenditures by commercial users, industrial enterprises, transportation and electric utilities.

Description: This index is constructed from the composite price of all energy sources consumed in the state.

Source:
U.S. Department of Energy

Description: Percent of state labor force employed = civilian employment / civilian labor force.

Civilian Employment: Civilian workers 16 years of age or older who (a) did any work at all as paid employees or in their own businesses or profession or farm, or worked 15 hours or more as unpaid workers in a family enterprise; or (b) were not working but had jobs or businesses from which they were temporarily absent because of illness, bad weather, vacation, labor management disputes, etc.

Civilian Labor Force: Civilian individuals who are 16 years of age or older and are either employed (see above) or counted as unemployed. The unemployed include all civilians 16 years and over who did not work, but who were available for work (except for temporary illness) and made specific efforts to find a job. Also included in the unemployed are those who did not work, but were waiting to be recalled to a job from which they had been laid off; or had a new job to go to.

Description: The Bureau of Economic Analysis provides estimates of wage and salaried employment and total wages paid. The data series have an 18-month lag and are updated to the most recent year possible using the Employment Security Department's ES202 data.

Average wages are calculated by dividing total wages by employment. Average wages in current dollars are translated into constant terms using the implicit price deflator for personal consumption expenditures.

Sources:
U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis - Wage & Salary Employment, Total Wages
Employment Security Department - Covered Employment & Wages
U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis - Implicit Price Deflator (IPD) for Personal Consumption Expenditures

Description: The median is the middle value of the wage distribution; i.e., half of workers receive a wage higher than the median and half receive a wage lower than it. The median, which is less sensitive than the mean to extremely high wages, can provide a better measure of wage trends for the typical worker. The indicator is calculated using Unemployment Insurance wage data.

Source:
Employment Security Department - Covered employment & Wages

Description: This indicator is the average hourly wage for the lowest-paid 20 percent of jobs on a full-time equivalent basis. It is calculated using Unemployment Insurance wage data.

Source:
Employment Security Department - Covered employment & Wages