Industry earnings are incomes received by people who are directly involved with producing goods and services. Earnings, referred to also as "labor and proprietors income", include (1) wage and salary disbursements, (2) other labor income such as employer contributions to private retirement and medical insurance programs, and (3) the net incomes of proprietors (i.e., the owners of unincorporated enterprises).

In contrast to the more frequently cited employment data, earnings data more accurately reflect qualitative differences in labor's contributions toward the production of goods and services, namely the productivity differences reflected in variations in earnings per job. Earnings data, therefore, are better for comparing and tracking long-term trends and identifying short-run shifts in the level and composition of economic activity within and among counties.

Just like the employment data compiled by BEA, earnings data are reported on a place-of-work, or more accurately on a place-where-earned, basis.

Note: the BEA earnings data presented and discussed here in the context of comparing and assessing the economic growth and performance of county and regional economies are entirely separate and apart from--and should not be confused with--corporate earnings, which are compiled from the balance sheets of individual private corporations.

Figure 1 depicts Harlan County's annual total industry earnings over 1970-2022 in current and constant (2017) dollars. Constant dollar measurements remove the effects of inflation. They allow for comparison of changes in the real purchasing power of Harlan County over time.

When measured in current dollars, Harlan County's total industry earnings increased 744.43%, from $11M in 1970 to $91M in 2022. When measured in constant 2017 dollars to adjust for inflation, it advanced 43.83%, from $55M in 1970 to $79M in 2022.

Figure 2 traces Harlan County's and Nebraska's annual real total industry earnings for the period 1969-2022 to illustrate real total industry earnings patterns over time. During this 54-year period, Harlan County's real total industry earnings rose from $53M in 1969 to $79M in 2022, for a net gain of $26M, or 49.31%. In comparison, Nebraska's real total industry earnings advanced from $23,481M in 1969 to $77,536M in 2022, for a net gain of $54,055M, or 230.20%.

Figure 3 shows Harlan County's real total industry earnings growth in a broader context by offering direct comparisons across time with Nebraska, the United States. The growth indices shown here express each region's real total industry earnings in 1969 as a base figure of 100, and the real total industry earningss in later years as a percentage of the 1969 base figure. This method allows for more direct comparison of differences in real total industry earnings growth between regions that may differ vastly in size.

Harlan County's overall real total industry earnings growth was 49.31% over 1969-2022 trailed Nebraska's increase of 230.20%, and fell below the United States' increase of 278.59%.

Another interesting and insightful way of highlighting the total industry earnings growth of Harlan County is to trace its individual percentage contributions to Nebraska's statewide total industry earnings over time, as shown in Figure 4. A rising share means a region's total industry earnings grew faster, or declined less, than Nebraska's total industry earnings, while a declining share shows it grew more slowly.

In 1969, Harlan County's total industry earnings totaled 0.22% of Nebraska's total industry earnings, while in 2022 it comprised 0.10% thereby yielding a -0.12% share-shift.

Figure 5 shows the short-run pattern of Harlan County's real total industry earnings 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, Harlan County's real total industry earnings grew at an annual rate of 3.04% over 1970-2022. The county recorded its highest growth in 2003 (51.14%) and posted its lowest growth in 1974 (-39.67%). In 2022, Harlan County's real total industry earnings declined by -17.95%

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 Harlan County's real total industry earnings 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, Harlan County's annual real total industry earnings growth rate averaged 2.44%. It averaged 5.95% in the 1980s, 0.31% throughout the 1990s, 4.89% during the 2000s, 2.71% in the 2010s, -0.66% thus far this decade (2020-2022).

Figure 7 compares the decade average growth rates for Harlan County noted in the previous graph with the corresponding decade averages for Nebraska and the nation. As the chart reveals, Harlan County's average annual real total industry earnings growth amounted to less than Nebraska's average throughout the 1970s (2.44% vs. 2.98%), registered above Nebraska's average in the 1980s (5.95% vs. 1.55%), posted below Nebraska's average in the 1990s (0.31% vs. 3.32%), registered above Nebraska's average during the 2000s (4.89% vs. 1.98%), registered above Nebraska's average during the 2010s (2.71% vs. 2.05%), and trailed Nebraska's average over the 3 year period of the current decade, 2020-2022 (-0.66% vs. 1.83%).

Finally, relative to nationwide real total industry earnings growth trends, Harlan County trailed the nation throughout the 1970s (2.44% vs. 3.13%), outgained the nation over the 1980s (5.95% vs. 2.62%), fell below the nation in the 1990s (0.31% vs. 3.43%), surpassed the nation in the 2000s (4.89% vs. 1.47%), surpassed the nation during the 2010s (2.71% vs. 2.53%), and fell below the nation over 2020-2022 (-0.66% vs. 1.48%).