Leading, Slipping, Gaining, Lagging Analysis:
Diagnosing Employment Growth
Across Iowa Counties
Employment Growth by County
County vs Statewide Average: 2010-2021 and 2021
Employment Growth by County
Iowa:
2010-2021 = 0.40%
2021 = 2.19%
Borrowing from an approach that sometimes appears in the finance sections of the popular press, LSGL analysis is a handy and versatile way to compare, portray and classify the patterns of employment growth across all of Iowa's 99 counties. In finance, this technique is used for comparing and assessing the market performance of individual securities or across industry sectors. For example, the performance of the 30 stocks contained within Dow are compared with one another over the past week in contrast to their performance over the past month using the Dow's respective averages as the points of reference.
Here in this Iowa Regional Economic Analysis Project report, we adopt this approach to gauge and compare the employment growth of Iowa's 99 counties over the year (2021) against the backdrop of their growth over the long term period (2010-2021). In so doing we classify their growth and performance into 4 broad categories: Leading, Slipping, Gaining and Lagging.
Employment Growth by County
County vs Statewide Average: 2010-2021 and 2021
Employment Growth by County
white dot
Iowa:
2010-2021 = 0.40%
2021 = 2.19%
This figure displays the 99 counties of Iowa as dots on a scattergram, with the vertical axis representing the average annual employment growth rate over the long-term period (2010-2021), and the horizontal axis representing the employment growth rate for the near-term (2021).
This figure sets apart those counties whose long-term employment growth exceeded the statewide average of 0.40%, by portraying them in the top two quadrants demarcated at 0.40% on the vertical axis. County whose long-term average annual employment growth rate trailed the statewide average (0.40%) are distributed in the bottom two quadrants. In all, 19 counties surpassed the statewide average over 2010-2021, while 80 counties fell below.
Similarly, the two quadrants on the right of this figure present the positions of the 22 counties whose most recent (2021) employment growth rate exceeded the statewide average (2.19%). The two quadrants on the left feature those 77 counties whose employment growth over 2021 trailed the statewide average.
Accordingly, each quadrant portrays the performance of all 99 counties corresponding with their long-term (2010-2021) and near-term (2021) performance relative to their respective statewide averages of 0.40% over 2010-2021 and 2.19% over 2021:
Leading counties () (top-right quadrant)...are the nine counties whose average annual employment growth rate surpassed the statewide average both long-term (0.40%) and near-term (2.19%).
Slipping counties () (top-left quadrant)...are the ten counties whose long-term average annual employment growth rate exceeded the statewide average (0.40%), but whose near-term growth has "slipped" by falling below the Iowa average (2.19%).
Gaining counties () (bottom-right quadrant)...are the thirteen counties whose long-term average annual employment growth rate fell below the statewide average (0.40%), but whose near-term growth has "gained" by registering above the average (2.19%) statewide.
Lagging counties () (bottom-left quadrant)...are the sixty-seven counties whose average annual employment growth rate fell under the statewide average both long-term (0.40%) and near-term (2.19%).
   
 
Summary of Iowa's 99 County Totals
 
Short Term Average
 
 
Below
(2.19%)
Above
(2.19%)
 
Long
Term
Average
Above
(0.40%)
10
9
19
Below
(0.40%)
67
13
80
 
77
22
99
 
   
Leading Counties
2021 vs. 2010-2021 Averages
Leading Counties
white dot
Iowa:
2010-2021 = 0.40%
2021 = 2.19%
Turning attention to the top-right quadrant from the discussion above, this figure features the distribution of the Iowa counties classified as Leading. These counties surpassed Iowa's average annual employment growth both long-term (2010-2021 = 0.40%) as well as near-term (2021 = 2.19%). Each is identified by its corresponding ranking based on its average annual employment growth rate over 2010-2021 as noted in the table below.
Of Iowa's 99 counties, just 9 (9%) are classified within the Leading () category. Those counties ranked by their long-term average include:
NOTE: Click on any county name to highlight its position in the chart above.
Slipping Counties
2021 vs. 2010-2021 Averages
Slipping Counties
white dot
Iowa:
2010-2021 = 0.40%
2021 = 2.19%
This figure depicts the distribution of the 10 Iowa counties classified as Slipping (top-left quadrant), in that their long-term average annual employment growth rate outpaced the average statewide (2010-2021 = 0.40%), while they trailed the statewide average near-term (2021 = 2.19%). Again, each county is identified by it's corresponding ranking based on its average annual employment growth rate over 2010-2021.
Only 10 ( 10%) of Iowa's 99 counties are classified as Slipping (). Those counties ranked by their long-term average include:
NOTE: Click on any county name to highlight its position in the chart above.
Gaining Counties
2021 vs. 2010-2021 Averages
Gaining Counties
white dot
Iowa:
2010-2021 = 0.40%
2021 = 2.19%
This figure shows the distribution of the 13 Iowa counties classified as Gaining (bottom-right quadrant), in that their long-term average annual employment growth rate posted below the average statewide (2010-2021 = 0.40%), while they outpaced Iowa's average near-term (2021 = 2.19%). Again, each county is identified by its corresponding ranking based on its average annual employment growth rate over 2010-2021.
Of Iowa's 99 counties, only 13% (13) are featured as Gaining (). Those counties ranked by their long-term average include:
NOTE: Click on any county name to highlight its position in the chart above.
Lagging Counties
2021 vs. 2010-2021 Averages
Lagging Counties
white dot
Iowa:
2010-2021 = 0.40%
2021 = 2.19%
This figure depicts the distributions of the 67 Iowa counties classified as Lagging (bottom-left quadrant). These counties trailed the statewide average annual employment growth both long-term (2010-2021 = 0.40%) as well as near-term (2021 = 2.19%). Again, each county is identified by its corresponding ranking based on it's average annual employment growth rate over 2010-2021.
68% of Iowa's counties, 67 of 99, are characterized here as Lagging (). Those counties ranked by their long-term average include:
NOTE: Click on any county name to highlight its position in the chart above.
   
 
Iowa
Employment Growth
County vs. Statewide Average
 
2010-2021
 
2021
 
 
Leading Counties
 
13
0.72
 
21
2.28
4,840
 
1
4.55
 
1
6.04
66,445
 
5
1.01
 
4
5.20
13,929
 
6
0.96
 
6
4.04
7,543
 
14
0.58
 
5
4.10
23,715
 
4
1.03
 
8
3.49
378,179
 
17
0.49
 
2
5.59
51,769
 
15
0.54
 
15
2.68
63,057
 
2
2.01
 
3
5.39
20,905
Slipping Counties
 
11
0.76
 
41
1.48
10,821
 
12
0.74
 
23
2.18
72,422
 
16
0.50
 
62
0.90
8,323
 
18
0.46
 
87
-0.18
12,488
 
7
0.91
 
48
1.38
114,693
 
8
0.87
 
95
-1.12
5,212
 
9
0.87
 
34
1.71
7,182
 
19
0.43
 
96
-1.35
6,601
 
10
0.77
 
45
1.42
16,525
 
3
1.10
 
29
1.88
28,548
Gaining Counties
 
89
-0.74
 
20
2.29
2,988
 
39
0.07
 
22
2.28
90,021
 
61
-0.12
 
7
3.87
6,838
 
41
0.05
 
9
3.46
5,949
 
37
0.08
 
18
2.41
8,550
 
63
-0.13
 
19
2.39
5,688
 
40
0.07
 
10
3.41
9,620
 
53
-0.04
 
17
2.51
6,041
 
28
0.28
 
11
3.37
3,619
 
84
-0.60
 
16
2.61
8,015
 
25
0.29
 
12
2.89
110,790
 
23
0.33
 
13
2.75
3,624
 
54
-0.06
 
14
2.70
63,741
Lagging Counties
 
78
-0.45
 
43
1.43
2,202
 
58
-0.10
 
79
0.25
7,772
 
64
-0.15
 
26
2.01
6,863
 
29
0.26
 
32
1.75
10,514
 
71
-0.28
 
28
1.90
13,173
 
33
0.19
 
33
1.74
14,650
 
32
0.19
 
47
1.38
10,550
 
38
0.08
 
92
-0.71
13,807
 
94
-1.07
 
74
0.52
4,816
 
70
-0.28
 
38
1.59
16,034
 
76
-0.35
 
35
1.68
8,214
 
69
-0.24
 
82
-0.04
8,546
 
79
-0.46
 
90
-0.70
29,941
 
83
-0.57
 
84
-0.10
7,285
 
27
0.28
 
27
1.91
7,739
 
51
-0.03
 
30
1.87
12,074
 
66
-0.19
 
80
0.11
10,670
 
98
-1.38
 
65
0.79
25,581
 
92
-0.87
 
91
-0.71
9,413
 
26
0.28
 
76
0.39
4,093
 
68
-0.21
 
52
1.22
4,153
 
72
-0.28
 
58
1.03
25,439
 
97
-1.30
 
97
-1.50
5,122
 
75
-0.33
 
85
-0.12
10,729
 
30
0.25
 
55
1.14
6,107
 
82
-0.52
 
25
2.03
4,063
 
52
-0.03
 
67
0.74
5,317
 
21
0.37
 
50
1.25
6,620
 
36
0.12
 
77
0.33
5,784
 
99
-1.49
 
57
1.05
8,197
 
96
-1.21
 
56
1.07
9,656
 
43
0.04
 
63
0.86
6,795
 
77
-0.43
 
31
1.83
12,125
 
62
-0.13
 
69
0.70
6,363
 
31
0.22
 
75
0.41
5,191
 
59
-0.11
 
49
1.32
10,037
 
47
0.02
 
73
0.66
16,214
 
44
0.03
 
53
1.21
11,204
 
90
-0.76
 
70
0.68
4,433
 
48
0.01
 
71
0.66
10,240
 
86
-0.64
 
93
-0.99
18,650
 
22
0.35
 
24
2.14
159,449
 
35
0.16
 
86
-0.12
5,599
 
46
0.02
 
51
1.24
11,193
 
95
-1.10
 
83
-0.05
20,247
 
85
-0.61
 
40
1.49
5,877
 
91
-0.79
 
37
1.61
4,241
 
24
0.32
 
68
0.71
5,113
 
49
0.00
 
78
0.28
26,548
 
42
0.04
 
89
-0.51
9,040
 
73
-0.30
 
81
0.05
5,634
 
20
0.40
 
72
0.66
4,587
 
56
-0.09
 
42
1.44
13,051
 
60
-0.12
 
36
1.64
2,723
 
65
-0.18
 
64
0.81
5,597
 
67
-0.19
 
54
1.19
8,081
 
50
0.00
 
88
-0.23
8,362
 
57
-0.10
 
66
0.76
3,333
 
88
-0.73
 
60
0.97
7,877
 
87
-0.66
 
46
1.40
3,543
 
74
-0.33
 
94
-1.07
19,226
 
34
0.18
 
39
1.55
13,233
 
81
-0.50
 
59
1.01
22,692
 
93
-0.94
 
61
0.95
6,370
 
55
-0.09
 
44
1.42
15,387
 
80
-0.46
 
99
-1.90
3,709
 
45
0.03
 
98
-1.76
8,104
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
0.40
 
2.19
2,053,873
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
1.31
 
3.82
202,752,100
November 2023
REAP_PI_CA1400_1000_LSGL
 
   
Copyright © 2023. Pacific Northwest Regional Economic Analysis Project (PNREAP). All Rights Reserved.

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