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 the Kenai Peninsula Borough's annual total industry earnings over 1980-2022 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 the Kenai Peninsula Borough over time.

When measured in current dollars, the Kenai Peninsula Borough's total industry earnings increased 529.53%, from $312M in 1980 to $1,962M in 2022. When measured in constant 2017 dollars to adjust for inflation, it advanced 111.18%, from $801M in 1980 to $1,691M in 2022.

Figure 2 tracks the Kenai Peninsula Borough's and Alaska's annual real total industry earnings for the period 1979-2022 to illustrate real total industry earnings patterns over time. During this 44-year period, the Kenai Peninsula Borough's real total industry earnings rose from $758M in 1979 to $1,691M in 2022, for a net gain of $933M, or 122.98%. In comparison, Alaska's real total industry earnings advanced from $14,758M in 1979 to $29,753M in 2022, for a net advance of $14,995M, or 101.60%.

Figure 3 portrays the Kenai Peninsula Borough's real total industry earnings growth in a broader context by offering direct comparisons across time with Alaska, the United States. The growth indices shown here express each region's real total industry earnings in 1979 as a base figure of 100, and the real total industry earningss in later years as a percentage of the 1979 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.

The Kenai Peninsula Borough's overall real total industry earnings growth was 122.98% over 1979-2022 outpaced Alaska's increase of 101.60%, and fell below the United States' increase of 179.41%.

Another interesting and insightful way of comparing the total industry earnings growth of the Kenai Peninsula Borough is to compare its individual percentage contributions to Alaska'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 Alaska's total industry earnings, while a declining share shows it grew more slowly.

In 1979, the Kenai Peninsula Borough's total industry earnings totaled 5.14% of Alaska's total industry earnings, while in 2022 it comprised 5.68% thereby yielding a +0.54% share-shift.

Figure 5 shows the short-run pattern of the Kenai Peninsula Borough's real total industry earnings growth by tracking the year-to-year percent change over 1980-2022. The average annual percent change for the entire 43-year period is also traced 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, the Kenai Peninsula Borough's real total industry earnings grew at an annual rate of 2.00% over 1980-2022. The burough posted its highest growth in 1989 (15.59%) and posted its lowest growth in 1987 (-13.04%). In 2022, the Kenai Peninsula Borough's real total industry earnings declined by -3.65%

Over the past five decades some buroughs have experienced extreme swings in growth, and often such swings have tended to coincide with the decades themselves. Figure 6 again traces the annual percent change in the Kenai Peninsula Borough's real total industry earnings since 1980, but this time they are overlayed with average growth rates for the decade of the 1980s, 1990s, 2000s, 2010s, and 2020-2022.

During the 1980s, the Kenai Peninsula Borough's annual real total industry earnings growth rate averaged 4.23%. It averaged 0.62% throughout the 1990s, 2.21% in the 2000s, 1.46% in the 2010s, 0.26% thus far this decade (2020-2022).

Figure 7 compares the decade average growth rates for the Kenai Peninsula Borough noted in the previous graph with the corresponding decade averages for Alaska and the nation. As the chart reveals, the Kenai Peninsula Borough's average annual real total industry earnings growth recorded above Alaska's average in the 1980s (4.23% vs. 2.15%), trailed Alaska's average in the 1990s (0.62% vs. 1.39%), lagged Alaska's average in the 2000s (2.21% vs. 3.30%), outperformed Alaska's average in the 2010s (1.46% vs. 0.82%), and exceeded Alaska's average over the 3 year period of the current decade, 2020-2022 (0.26% vs. -1.31%).

Finally, relative to nationwide real total industry earnings growth trends, the Kenai Peninsula Borough surpassed the nation throughout the 1980s (4.23% vs. 2.62%), posted below the nation during the 1990s (0.62% vs. 3.43%), outperformed the nation in the 2000s (2.21% vs. 1.47%), fell under the nation throughout the 2010s (1.46% vs. 2.53%), and lagged the nation over 2020-2022 (0.26% vs. 1.48%).