Regional Trends
Regional Trends
Urban Core Trends
Urban Core Trends
Strengthen & Expand the Region's Economic Base |
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Annual Unemployment Rate
Description:
The annual unemployment rate is calculated as the percent of all people in the labor force who are not currently employed. Between 2005 and 2006, the unemployment rate for the Pioneer Valley remained relatively stable, with a slight increase from 5.2% to 5.4 percent. Unemployment was significantly more prevalent in the urban core areas with a rate that was more than 2% higher than that of the Pioneer Valley in both 2005 and 2006. Trends were relatively similar to the Pioneer Valley, with a minor increase of 0.1 percent. The two urban core areas showed more variation in trends. Springfield experienced a 0.1% increase, while Holyoke experienced a 0.4% decrease in unemployment.
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Total Number of Jobs
Description:
The total number of jobs includes all types of company ownership and all industries, as derived from reports filed by all employers subject to unemployment compensation laws, both state and federal. The number of jobs in the Pioneer Valley stayed very consistent from 2005 to 2006, increasing very slightly from 283,191 to 284,093, a change of 0.3 percent. Trends were more noticeable in the urban core, with the number of jobs decreasing by 2.7% between 2005 and 2006. Of the two urban core areas, Springfield had a slightly larger change than Holyoke (-2.8% compared to -2.5% respectively).
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Average Wage Earned by Workers
Description:
The average wage earned by workers includes employees in all types of company ownership and all industries, as derived from reports filed by all employers subject to unemployment compensation laws, both state and federal. The average wage earned by workers in the Pioneer Valley increased 3.2% from $778 in 2005 to $806 in 2006. Wages increased in the urban core at almost the same rate as the region (3.6 percent). Holyoke experienced the largest increase of the two urban areas (4.1% compared to 3.5% in Springfield). Interestingly, average wages in the urban core were higher than both the Pioneer Valley and the Pioneer Valley Region, showing that the urban core areas are still a major center of high paying jobs in the region.
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Growth of the Private Sector Payroll
Description:
The private sector payroll includes the total of all wages paid from companies with private ownership for all industries, as derived from reports filed by all employers subject to unemployment compensation laws, both state and federal. The private sector payroll for the Pioneer Valley grew from $10,418,742,606 in 2005 to $10,786,212,714 in 2006, a change of 3.5 percent. Growth was similar in the urban core, with an overall change of 3.0% between 2005 and 2006. Springfield had a slightly higher increase of 3.1%, while Holyoke had an increase of 2.8 percent.
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Total Number of Business Establishments
Description:
The total number of business establishments includes businesses with all types of company ownership and all industries, as derived from reports filed by all employers subject to unemployment compensation laws, both state and federal. In the Pioneer Valley, the total number of business establishments remained relatively stable, decreasing by 0.2% from 20,356 in 2005 to 20,321 in 2006. Trends were more pronounced in the urban core where the total number of businesses decreased by 2.0 percent. Both urban areas showed a similar decreasing trend (2% in Springfield and 2.3% in Holyoke).
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Manufacturing as a Percent of All Employment by Number of Establishments
Description:
This measure was calculated by dividing the total number of establishments in the manufacturing sector by the number of establishments in all industries. These numbers include companies with all types of ownership, as derived from reports filed by all employers subject to unemployment compensation laws, both state and federal. Overall, manufacturing remained fairly stable as a percentage of all establishments in the Pioneer Valley, decreasing from 4.8% in 2005 to 4.6% in 2006. Manufacturing followed similarly neutral trend in the urban core with a slight decrease of 0.1 percent. Trends in the urban core communities were similar, with a 0.1% decrease in Springfield and no change in Holyoke for this measure.
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Pioneer Valley Planning Commission (PVPC)
60 Congress Street • Springfield, MA 0101104-3419 www.pvpc.org
For more information on the State of the Region and Plan for Progress Performance Indicators,
contact the PVPC's
Regional Information & Policy Center at (413) 781-6045