The National Association of Counties (NACo) provides data for regional multi-jurisdictional approaches, data sources for strategic planning and economic analysis.

County Economies 2015 Publication

The County Economies 2015 Publication by NACo provides county profiles. Note each profile contains the “Top 5 Specialized Industries by Employment for 2015.”  The Census Bureau and Moody’s Analytics are referenced as data sources.

New Report Examines GDP and other Economic Indicators

Published by the National Association of Counties, the report assesses economic performance in the nation’s 3,069 counties by looking at changes in four indicators. These indicators include: the number of jobs, unemployment rates, economic output and median home prices.

While county economies have bounced back to some extent from the doldrums of the Great Recession, the report indicates that gains have been uneven across each of the four metrics, and have also varied based on each county’s size and location.

Economic output is examined in terms of gross domestic product, or GDP, which measures the total value of goods and services produced by a county economy. Declines took place last year in 36 percent of county economies, according to the report. These declines were mostly concentrated in smaller counties located in southern and midwestern states.

Ten percent of the counties that experienced declines have economies that depend heavily on the oil and gas industry, which has been hard-hit over the last year by plummeting oil prices.