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 Metropolitan U.S.'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 the Metropolitan U.S. over time.

When measured in current dollars, the Metropolitan U.S.'s total industry earnings increased 2,193.23%, from $606B in 1970 to $13,898B in 2022. When measured in constant 2017 dollars to adjust for inflation, it advanced 290.61%, from $3,066B in 1970 to $11,977B in 2022.

Figure 2 tracks the Metropolitan U.S.'s and Alaska'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, the Metropolitan U.S.'s real total industry earnings rose from $3,025,767M in 1969 to $11,976,958M in 2022, for a net gain of $8,951,191M, or 295.83%. In comparison, Alaska's real total industry earnings advanced from $7,603M in 1969 to $29,753M in 2022, for a net advance of $22,150M, or 291.34%.

Figure 3 portrays the Metropolitan U.S.'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 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.

The Metropolitan U.S.'s overall real total industry earnings growth was 295.83% over 1969-2022 outpaced Alaska's increase of 291.34%, and topped the United States' increase of 278.59%.

Another interesting and insightful way of highlighting the total industry earnings growth of the Metropolitan U.S. and Alaska is to trace their individual percentage contributions to the United States' total 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 the United States' total industry earnings, while a declining share shows they grew more slowly.

In 1969, the Metropolitan U.S.'s total industry earnings totaled 87.41% of the United States' total industry earnings, while in 2022 it equated to 91.39% thereby yielding a +3.98% share-shift. Similarly, in 1969, Alaska's total industry earnings made up 0.22% of the United States' total industry earnings, while in 2022 it equated to 0.23%, resulting in a +0.01% share-shift.

Figure 5 shows the short-run pattern of the Metropolitan U.S.'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 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 Metropolitan U.S.'s real total industry earnings grew at an annual rate of 2.66% over 1970-2022. The Metropolitan U.S. recorded its highest growth in 1998 (7.38%) and posted its lowest growth in 2009 (-3.31%). In 2022, the Metropolitan U.S.'s real total industry earnings grew by 0.04%

Over the past five decades some metropolitan regions 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 Metropolitan U.S.'s real total industry earnings since 1970, but this time they are displayed with average growth rates for the decade of the 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, 2000s, 2010s, and 2020-2022.

During the 1970s, the Metropolitan U.S.'s annual real total industry earnings growth rate averaged 3.09%. It averaged 2.86% throughout the 1980s, 3.52% throughout the 1990s, 1.51% in the 2000s, 2.65% during the 2010s, 1.46% thus far this decade (2020-2022).

Figure 7 compares the decade average growth rates for the Metropolitan U.S. noted in the previous graph with the corresponding decade averages for Alaska and the nation. As the chart reveals, the Metropolitan U.S.'s average annual real total industry earnings growth fell below Alaska's average throughout the 1970s (3.09% vs. 7.88%), registered above Alaska's average during the 1980s (2.86% vs. 2.15%), outperformed Alaska's average throughout the 1990s (3.52% vs. 1.39%), amounted to less than Alaska's average during the 2000s (1.51% vs. 3.30%), outperformed Alaska's average during the 2010s (2.65% vs. 0.82%), and led Alaska's average over the 3 year period of the current decade, 2020-2022 (1.46% vs. -1.31%).

Finally, relative to nationwide real total industry earnings growth trends, the Metropolitan U.S. posted below the nation over the 1970s (3.09% vs. 3.13%), exceeded the nation over the 1980s (2.86% vs. 2.62%), outperformed the nation throughout the 1990s (3.52% vs. 3.43%), outpaced the nation over the 2000s (1.51% vs. 1.47%), led the nation during the 2010s (2.65% vs. 2.53%), and recorded underneath the nation over 2020-2022 (1.46% vs. 1.48%).