Coastal Bend Trends in Occupations, 2014
What are the popular occupations in
the Coastal Bend? The accompanying
bar chart lists a number of occupa
tions with a relatively high location
quotient (over 1.35) as well as those
occupations with a relatively low
location quotient (less than 0.65). A
high location quotient means that the
occupation is exceptionally popular in
the region relative to the rest of the
nation. The following occupations have
a location quotient over 2: extraction
workers, fishing and hunting workers,
plant operators, water transportation
workers, supervisors of construction
and extraction, personal care workers,
and construction helpers. This means
that those occupations are at least
twice as popular in the Coastal Bend
as elsewhere in the nation. Those
occupations are also closely related
to the industries with a relatively
strong regional presence: oil and gas,
construction, and health care. On the
contrary, the region has relatively
fewer printing workers, religious
workers, assemblers and woodworkers
in comparison with the nation.
Source: EMSI Analyst Online
DIVERSITY AND SP ECI ALIZ ATI ON
Trends in Occupations
With the exception of fishing and hunting workers, the patterns of location quotients tend to be closely associated with the historical
growth trends of the occupations, as shown in the bar chart. This means that those occupations that are overrepresented in the Coastal
Bend also tend to have experienced strong growth in regional employment. The number of oil and gas extraction workers, who have the
highest location quotient of 15.6, more than doubled between 2001 and 2014. On the bottom of the spectrum, the number of woodworkers,
who have the lowest location quotient of 0.2, reduced 40 percent during that same period.
Diversity Rankings
How does the extent of economic diversity in our local
communities stack up with communities in other regions? The
accompanying column chart lists the individual rankings of the 12
Coastal Bend counties among all counties in the U.S., according
to the Regional Economic Applications Laboratory at University
of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Economic diversity is measured
alternatively by employment across different industries and
across occupations.
Overall, the patterns of industry and occupation diversity across
counties ar