Weakley County vs. Tennessee
Comparative Trends Analysis:
Total Employment Growth and Change, 1969-2022
Introduction
Weakley County vs. Tennessee
Weakley County:
2022 Jobs = 16,547
2022 Percent of State = 0.37%
Tennessee:
2022 Jobs = 4,506,394
2022 Percent of U.S. = 2.12%
Employment numbers remain the most popular and frequently cited statistics used for tracking local area economic conditions and trends. The Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) employment estimates reported measure the number of full- and part-time wage and salary employees, plus the number of proprietors of unincorporated businesses. People holding more than one job are counted in the employment estimates for each job they hold. This means BEA employment estimates represent a job count, not a people count. Also, BEA employment is by place-of-work, rather than by place-of-residence. Jobs held by neighboring county residents who commute to Weakley County to work are included in the employment count for Weakley County.
Data Definition:
The BEA employment series for states and local areas comprises estimates of the number of jobs, full-time plus part-time, by place of work. Full-time and part-time jobs are counted at equal weight. Employees, sole proprietors, and active partners are included, but unpaid family workers and volunteers are not included. Proprietors employment consists of the number of sole proprietorships and the number of partners in partnerships. The description "by place of work" applies to the wage and salary portion of the series and, with relatively little error, to the entire series. The proprietors employment portion of the series, however, is more nearly by place of residence because, for nonfarm sole proprietorships, the estimates are based on IRS tax data that reflect the address from which the proprietor's individual tax return is filed, which is usually the proprietor's residence. The nonfarm partnership portion of the proprietors employment series reflects the tax-filing address of the partnership, which may be either the residence of one of the partners or the business address of the partnership. The employment estimates are designed to be consistent with the estimates of wages and salaries and proprietors' income that are part of the personal income series. The employment estimates are based on the same sets of source data as the corresponding earnings estimates and are prepared with parallel methodologies. Two forms of proprietors' income-the income of limited partnerships and the income of tax-exempt cooperatives-have no corresponding employment estimates.
Total Employment, 1969-2022
Total Employment, 1969-2022
Figure 1.
Figure 1 traces Weakley County's annual total employment for the period 1969-2022 to illustrate total employment patterns over time. During this 54-year period, Weakley County's total employment rose from 12,839 in 1969 to 16,547 in 2022, for a net gain of 3,708, or 28.88%.
Total Employment, 1969-2022
Total Employment, 1969-2022
Figure 2.
Figure 2 traces Tennessee's annual total employment for the period 1969-2022 to illustrate total employment patterns over time. During this 54-year period, Tennessee's total employment rose from 1,788,719 in 1969 to 4,506,394 in 2022, for a net gain of 2,717,675, or 151.93%.
Total Employment Indices (1969=100): 1969-2022
Total Employment Indices (1969=100): 1969-2022
Figure 3.
Figure 3 shows Weakley County's total employment growth in a broader context by offering direct comparisons across time with Tennessee, the United States. The growth indices shown here express each region's total employment in 1969 as a base figure of 100, and the total employments in later years as a percentage of the 1969 base figure. This method allows for more direct comparison of differences in total employment growth between regions that may differ vastly in size.
Weakley County's overall total employment growth was 28.88% over 1969-2022 trailed Tennessee's increase of 151.93%, and fell below the United States' increase of 133.32%.
Total Employment as a Percent of the Tennessee Total: 1969-2022
Total Employment as a Percent of the Tennessee Total: 1969-2022
Figure 4.
Another interesting and insightful way of contrasting the total employment growth of Weakley County is to trace its individual percentage contributions to Tennessee's statewide total employment over time, as shown in Figure 4. A rising share means a region's total employment grew faster, or declined less, than Tennessee's total employment, while a declining share shows it grew more slowly.
In 1969, Weakley County's total employment comprised 0.72% of Tennessee's total employment, while in 2022 it equated to 0.37% thereby yielding a -0.35% share-shift.
   
 
Total Employment Share-Shift
2022 vs. 1969
 
Share-
Shift*
 
2022
vs.
1969
-0.35%
=
0.37%
-
0.72%
 
   
Weakley County Total Employment:
Annual Percent Change, 1970-2022
Weakley County Total Employment:
Annual Percent Change, 1970-2022
Figure 5.
Figure 5 highlights the short-run pattern of Weakley County's total employment growth by tracking the year-to-year percent change over 1970-2022. The average annual percent change for the entire 53-year period is also illustrated on this chart to provide a benchmark for gauging periods of relative high--and relative low--growth against the backdrop of the long-term average.
On average, Weakley County's total employment grew at an annual rate of 0.51% over 1970-2022. The county posted its highest growth in 1989 (7.36%) and recorded its lowest growth in 1982 (-5.56%). In 2022, Weakley County's total employment grew by 1.98%
Weakley County Total Employment:
Annual Percent Change and Decade Averages Over 1970-2022
Weakley County Total Employment:
Annual Percent Change and Decade Averages Over 1970-2022
Figure 6.
Over the past five decades some counties have experienced extreme swings in growth, and often such swings have tended to coincide with the decades themselves. Figure 6 again illustrates the annual percent change in Weakley County's total employment since 1970, but this time they are overlayed with average growth rates for the decade of the 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, 2000s, 2010s, and 2020-2022.
During the 1970s, Weakley County's annual total employment growth rate averaged 0.60%. It averaged 1.69% throughout the 1980s, 0.51% during the 1990s, -1.15% during the 2000s, 0.67% during the 2010s, 1.29% thus far this decade (2020-2022).
Total Employment Growth:
Average Annual Percent Change by Decade
Total Employment Growth:
Average Annual Percent Change by Decade
Figure 7.
Figure 7 compares the decade average growth rates for Weakley County noted in the previous graph with the corresponding decade averages for Tennessee and the nation. As the chart reveals, Weakley County's average annual total employment growth lagged Tennessee's average in the 1970s (0.60% vs. 2.49%), fell below Tennessee's average during the 1980s (1.69% vs. 1.86%), trailed Tennessee's average during the 1990s (0.51% vs. 2.20%), amounted to less than Tennessee's average throughout the 2000s (-1.15% vs. 0.38%), fell below Tennessee's average during the 2010s (0.67% vs. 1.70%), and amounted to less than Tennessee's average over the 3 year period of the current decade, 2020-2022 (1.29% vs. 2.66%).
Finally, relative to nationwide total employment growth trends, Weakley County recorded underneath the nation during the 1970s (0.60% vs. 2.21%), trailed the nation in the 1980s (1.69% vs. 1.88%), lagged the nation during the 1990s (0.51% vs. 1.73%), fell below the nation over the 2000s (-1.15% vs. 0.74%), fell below the nation in the 2010s (0.67% vs. 1.51%), and fell below the nation over 2020-2022 (1.29% vs. 1.82%).
   
 
Total Employment Growth:
Average Annual Percent Change
 
 
 
0.51
0.60
1.69
0.51
-1.15
0.67
1.29
1.98
 
1.78
2.49
1.86
2.20
0.38
1.70
2.66
4.76
 
1.62
2.21
1.88
1.73
0.74
1.51
1.82
4.78
 
   
Job Ratios (Employment/Population): 1969-2022
Job Ratios (Employment/Population): 1969-2022
Figure 8.
The job ratios shown in Figure 8 for Weakley County, Tennessee and the nation not only portray a number of important trends, they also serves as a thumbnail guide to evaluating an economy's capacity to generate enough jobs fast enough to absorb the increasing number of workers attendant to a growing population. The job ratio is the number of full-time and part-time jobs by place of work, divided by population.
Nationally, the job ratio rose from 0.45 to 0.64 between 1969 and 2022. Weakley County's job ratio registered 0.45 in 1969, and 0.50 in 2022. Underlying the rising job ratio over the past several decades have been the increases in the labor force participation rates, with the number and proportion of women in the labor market playing a leading role.
An assortment of other factors can contribute to regional differences in the job ratio. They include differences in the proportion of elderly and retirees who no longer work and participate in the labor force, differences in the number and proportion of part-time vs. full-time workers, differences in industry composition, and differences in age and sex distribution and degree of urbanization. Also, a disproportionate number of workers commuting to work outside a county tends to lower its local county job ratio, while a net inflow of workers commuting to work inside the county tends to augment its local county job ratio.
Avoid interpreting the job ratio as the fraction (or percent) of the local population employed. This interpretation should only apply to the "employment-population ratio" statistic compiled by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) from the Current Population Survey (CPS).
Job Ratios (Employment/Population)
as a Percent of the U.S. Average:
1969-2022
Job Ratios (Employment/Population)
as a Percent of the U.S. Average:
1969-2022
Figure 9.
To highlight trends in a local job ratio relative to nationwide trends, Figure 9 tracks Weakley County's, Tennessee's job ratio as a percent of the national job ratio over 1969-2022.

Interactive TableTip: To augment your analysis click on the column headers in the following table to rank and/or sort the data.

   
 
Weakley County:
Total Employment, 1969-2022
 
1969
 
12,839
100.0
N
0.72
0.45
99.76
1970
 
12,786
99.6
-0.41
0.72
0.44
98.51
1971
 
12,754
99.3
-0.25
0.70
0.43
96.46
1972
 
13,293
103.5
4.23
0.69
0.44
96.93
1973
 
13,776
107.3
3.63
0.68
0.44
94.96
1974
 
13,964
108.8
1.36
0.68
0.44
94.47
1975
 
13,274
103.4
-4.94
0.67
0.43
92.67
1976
 
13,497
105.1
1.68
0.66
0.43
91.58
1977
 
13,781
107.3
2.10
0.65
0.43
89.82
1978
 
13,828
107.7
0.34
0.62
0.43
87.26
1979
 
13,590
105.8
-1.72
0.60
0.42
83.31
1980
 
13,600
105.9
0.07
0.60
0.41
82.28
1981
 
13,478
105.0
-0.90
0.60
0.41
81.32
1982
 
12,728
99.1
-5.56
0.57
0.39
78.64
1983
 
12,798
99.7
0.55
0.57
0.39
78.83
1984
 
12,962
101.0
1.28
0.55
0.40
77.62
1985
 
13,531
105.4
4.39
0.56
0.42
80.10
1986
 
13,900
108.3
2.73
0.56
0.43
81.57
1987
 
14,208
110.7
2.22
0.55
0.44
82.69
1988
 
14,882
115.9
4.74
0.56
0.46
84.44
1989
 
15,977
124.4
7.36
0.58
0.50
90.58
1990
 
16,097
125.4
0.75
0.58
0.50
90.57
1991
 
16,207
126.2
0.68
0.58
0.51
92.85
1992
 
16,110
125.5
-0.60
0.57
0.50
92.67
1993
 
16,808
130.9
4.33
0.57
0.52
95.33
1994
 
17,157
133.6
2.08
0.56
0.52
95.05
1995
 
17,402
135.5
1.43
0.55
0.52
94.39
1996
 
17,332
135.0
-0.40
0.54
0.51
91.80
1997
 
17,366
135.3
0.20
0.53
0.51
89.73
1998
 
17,018
132.5
-2.00
0.51
0.49
86.03
1999
 
16,784
130.7
-1.38
0.49
0.48
83.57
2000
 
17,170
133.7
2.30
0.50
0.49
83.88
2001
 
17,054
132.8
-0.68
0.50
0.49
85.13
2002
 
16,692
130.0
-2.12
0.49
0.48
84.43
2003
 
16,009
124.7
-4.09
0.47
0.47
81.61
2004
 
15,845
123.4
-1.02
0.45
0.46
80.10
2005
 
15,973
124.4
0.81
0.45
0.46
79.60
2006
 
15,894
123.8
-0.49
0.44
0.46
78.64
2007
 
15,913
123.9
0.12
0.43
0.46
77.94
2008
 
15,653
121.9
-1.63
0.43
0.45
77.02
2009
 
14,914
116.2
-4.72
0.42
0.43
75.86
2010
 
14,736
114.8
-1.19
0.42
0.42
75.26
2011
 
14,707
114.5
-0.20
0.41
0.42
74.83
2012
 
14,582
113.6
-0.85
0.40
0.42
74.33
2013
 
14,656
114.2
0.51
0.40
0.43
74.86
2014
 
15,271
118.9
4.20
0.40
0.45
77.42
2015
 
15,487
120.6
1.41
0.40
0.46
77.85
2016
 
15,663
122.0
1.14
0.40
0.47
78.85
2017
 
15,614
121.6
-0.31
0.39
0.47
78.69
2018
 
16,091
125.3
3.05
0.39
0.49
79.98
2019
 
15,924
124.0
-1.04
0.38
0.48
79.37
2020
 
15,943
124.2
0.12
0.39
0.48
82.26
2021
 
16,225
126.4
1.77
0.38
0.49
80.83
2022
 
16,547
128.9
1.98
0.37
0.50
78.52
Source: Calculations by the Tennessee Regional Economic Analysis Project (TN-REAP)
with data provided by the U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of Economic Analysis
November 2023
REAP_PI_CA1400_1000_PSN
 
   

Interactive TableTip: To augment your analysis click on the column headers in the following table to rank and/or sort the data.

   
 
Tennessee:
Total Employment, 1969-2022
 
1969
 
1,788,719
100.0
N
1.96
0.46
101.47
1970
 
1,784,919
99.8
-0.21
1.96
0.45
101.23
1971
 
1,816,596
101.6
1.77
1.98
0.45
102.30
1972
 
1,923,756
107.5
5.90
2.04
0.47
104.41
1973
 
2,024,714
113.2
5.25
2.06
0.49
105.05
1974
 
2,054,692
114.9
1.48
2.05
0.49
104.21
1975
 
1,983,267
110.9
-3.48
2.01
0.47
101.40
1976
 
2,052,396
114.7
3.49
2.02
0.47
101.52
1977
 
2,135,018
119.4
4.03
2.03
0.49
101.47
1978
 
2,227,104
124.5
4.31
2.03
0.50
101.07
1979
 
2,278,894
127.4
2.33
2.01
0.50
99.77
1980
 
2,259,204
126.3
-0.86
1.98
0.49
97.90
1981
 
2,255,061
126.1
-0.18
1.96
0.49
97.31
1982
 
2,217,235
124.0
-1.68
1.94
0.48
96.84
1983
 
2,239,467
125.2
1.00
1.94
0.48
97.16
1984
 
2,343,854
131.0
4.66
1.94
0.50
97.85
1985
 
2,398,866
134.1
2.35
1.94
0.51
97.77
1986
 
2,477,304
138.5
3.27
1.96
0.52
99.45
1987
 
2,577,879
144.1
4.06
1.99
0.54
100.80
1988
 
2,663,338
148.9
3.32
1.99
0.55
101.10
1989
 
2,734,816
152.9
2.68
2.01
0.56
102.11
1990
 
2,777,416
155.3
1.56
2.01
0.57
102.40
1991
 
2,777,569
155.3
0.01
2.02
0.56
102.81
1992
 
2,837,263
158.6
2.15
2.05
0.56
104.31
1993
 
2,942,948
164.5
3.72
2.09
0.57
105.76
1994
 
3,061,304
171.1
4.02
2.12
0.59
106.78
1995
 
3,144,656
175.8
2.72
2.13
0.59
106.27
1996
 
3,194,784
178.6
1.59
2.11
0.59
105.19
1997
 
3,269,258
182.8
2.33
2.12
0.59
104.88
1998
 
3,339,584
186.7
2.15
2.11
0.60
104.36
1999
 
3,397,301
189.9
1.73
2.10
0.60
104.08
2000
 
3,459,310
193.4
1.83
2.09
0.61
103.48
2001
 
3,421,028
191.3
-1.11
2.07
0.59
102.42
2002
 
3,408,736
190.6
-0.36
2.06
0.59
102.46
2003
 
3,433,444
191.9
0.72
2.07
0.59
102.66
2004
 
3,507,915
196.1
2.17
2.08
0.59
102.92
2005
 
3,572,054
199.7
1.83
2.07
0.60
102.24
2006
 
3,643,561
203.7
2.00
2.07
0.60
101.53
2007
 
3,702,458
207.0
1.62
2.06
0.60
100.58
2008
 
3,677,116
205.6
-0.68
2.05
0.59
99.87
2009
 
3,523,871
197.0
-4.17
2.03
0.56
98.73
2010
 
3,515,815
196.6
-0.23
2.03
0.55
98.97
2011
 
3,589,026
200.6
2.08
2.04
0.56
99.24
2012
 
3,635,172
203.2
1.29
2.03
0.56
98.78
2013
 
3,689,682
206.3
1.50
2.02
0.57
98.49
2014
 
3,772,755
210.9
2.25
2.03
0.58
98.61
2015
 
3,859,498
215.8
2.30
2.03
0.58
98.69
2016
 
3,951,859
220.9
2.39
2.04
0.59
99.32
2017
 
4,033,011
225.5
2.05
2.05
0.60
99.52
2018
 
4,120,203
230.3
2.16
2.06
0.61
99.29
2019
 
4,169,016
233.1
1.18
2.07
0.61
99.50
2020
 
4,121,045
230.4
-1.15
2.11
0.60
101.01
2021
 
4,301,472
240.5
4.38
2.12
0.62
101.09
2022
 
4,506,394
251.9
4.76
2.12
0.64
100.26
Source: Calculations by the Tennessee Regional Economic Analysis Project (TN-REAP)
with data provided by the U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of Economic Analysis
November 2023
REAP_PI_CA1400_1000_PSN
 
   

Interactive TableTip: To augment your analysis click on the column headers in the following table to rank and/or sort the data.

   
 
United States:
Total Employment, 1969-2022
 
1969
 
91,053,200
100.0
N
0.45
1970
 
91,277,600
100.2
0.25
0.45
1971
 
91,581,400
100.6
0.33
0.44
1972
 
94,312,200
103.6
2.98
0.45
1973
 
98,427,500
108.1
4.36
0.47
1974
 
100,111,800
109.9
1.71
0.47
1975
 
98,900,600
108.6
-1.21
0.46
1976
 
101,591,200
111.6
2.72
0.47
1977
 
105,042,200
115.4
3.40
0.48
1978
 
109,686,600
120.5
4.42
0.49
1979
 
113,147,100
124.3
3.15
0.50
1980
 
113,983,200
125.2
0.74
0.50
1981
 
114,914,000
126.2
0.82
0.50
1982
 
114,163,300
125.4
-0.65
0.49
1983
 
115,645,700
127.0
1.30
0.49
1984
 
120,528,100
132.4
4.22
0.51
1985
 
123,796,700
136.0
2.71
0.52
1986
 
126,232,300
138.6
1.97
0.53
1987
 
129,548,400
142.3
2.63
0.53
1988
 
133,563,900
146.7
3.10
0.55
1989
 
136,177,800
149.6
1.96
0.55
1990
 
138,330,900
151.9
1.58
0.55
1991
 
137,612,800
151.1
-0.52
0.54
1992
 
138,166,100
151.7
0.40
0.54
1993
 
140,774,400
154.6
1.89
0.54
1994
 
144,196,600
158.4
2.43
0.55
1995
 
147,915,800
162.4
2.58
0.56
1996
 
151,056,200
165.9
2.12
0.56
1997
 
154,541,200
169.7
2.31
0.57
1998
 
158,481,200
174.1
2.55
0.57
1999
 
161,531,300
177.4
1.92
0.58
2000
 
165,370,800
181.6
2.38
0.59
2001
 
165,522,200
181.8
0.09
0.58
2002
 
165,095,100
181.3
-0.26
0.57
2003
 
165,921,500
182.2
0.50
0.57
2004
 
168,839,700
185.4
1.76
0.58
2005
 
172,338,400
189.3
2.07
0.58
2006
 
175,868,600
193.1
2.05
0.59
2007
 
179,543,700
197.2
2.09
0.60
2008
 
179,213,900
196.8
-0.18
0.59
2009
 
173,636,700
190.7
-3.11
0.57
2010
 
172,901,700
189.9
-0.42
0.56
2011
 
176,091,700
193.4
1.84
0.56
2012
 
178,979,700
196.6
1.64
0.57
2013
 
182,328,100
200.2
1.87
0.58
2014
 
186,239,800
204.5
2.15
0.58
2015
 
190,325,800
209.0
2.19
0.59
2016
 
193,425,900
212.4
1.63
0.60
2017
 
196,394,100
215.7
1.53
0.60
2018
 
200,292,200
220.0
1.98
0.61
2019
 
201,635,200
221.4
0.67
0.61
2020
 
195,286,600
214.5
-3.15
0.59
2021
 
202,752,100
222.7
3.82
0.61
2022
 
212,442,000
233.3
4.78
0.64
Source: Calculations by the Tennessee Regional Economic Analysis Project (TN-REAP)
with data provided by the U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of Economic Analysis
November 2023
REAP_PI_CA1400_1000_PN
 
   
Copyright © 2023. Pacific Northwest Regional Economic Analysis Project (PNREAP). All Rights Reserved.

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