Leading, Slipping, Gaining, Lagging Analysis:
Diagnosing Employment Growth
Across West Virginia Counties
Employment Growth by County
County vs Statewide Average: 2010-2021 and 2021
Employment Growth by County
West Virginia:
2010-2021 = -0.31%
2021 = 2.81%
Borrowing from an approach that sometimes appears in the finance sections of the popular press, LSGL analysis is a handy and versatile way to compare, portray and classify the patterns of employment growth across all of West Virginia's 55 counties. In finance, this technique is used for comparing and assessing the market performance of individual securities or across industry sectors. For example, the performance of the 30 stocks contained within Dow are compared with one another over the past week in contrast to their performance over the past month using the Dow's respective averages as the points of reference.
Here in this West Virginia Regional Economic Analysis Project report, we adopt this approach to gauge and compare the employment growth of West Virginia's 55 counties over the year (2021) against the backdrop of their growth over the long term period (2010-2021). In so doing we classify their growth and performance into 4 broad categories: Leading, Slipping, Gaining and Lagging.
Employment Growth by County
County vs Statewide Average: 2010-2021 and 2021
Employment Growth by County
white dot
West Virginia:
2010-2021 = -0.31%
2021 = 2.81%
This figure displays the 55 counties of West Virginia as dots on a scattergram, with the vertical axis representing the average annual employment growth rate over the long-term period (2010-2021), and the horizontal axis representing the employment growth rate for the near-term (2021).
This figure sets apart those counties whose long-term employment growth exceeded the statewide average of -0.31%, by portraying them in the top two quadrants demarcated at -0.31% on the vertical axis. County whose long-term average annual employment growth rate trailed the statewide average (-0.31%) are distributed in the bottom two quadrants. In all, 20 counties surpassed the statewide average over 2010-2021, while 35 counties fell below.
Similarly, the two quadrants on the right of this figure present the positions of the 26 counties whose most recent (2021) employment growth rate exceeded the statewide average (2.81%). The two quadrants on the left feature those 29 counties whose employment growth over 2021 trailed the statewide average.
Accordingly, each quadrant portrays the performance of all 55 counties corresponding with their long-term (2010-2021) and near-term (2021) performance relative to their respective statewide averages of -0.31% over 2010-2021 and 2.81% over 2021:
Leading counties () (top-right quadrant)...are the eleven counties whose average annual employment growth rate surpassed the statewide average both long-term (-0.31%) and near-term (2.81%).
Slipping counties () (top-left quadrant)...are the nine counties whose long-term average annual employment growth rate exceeded the statewide average (-0.31%), but whose near-term growth has "slipped" by falling below the West Virginia average (2.81%).
Gaining counties () (bottom-right quadrant)...are the fifteen counties whose long-term average annual employment growth rate fell below the statewide average (-0.31%), but whose near-term growth has "gained" by registering above the average (2.81%) statewide.
Lagging counties () (bottom-left quadrant)...are the twenty counties whose average annual employment growth rate fell under the statewide average both long-term (-0.31%) and near-term (2.81%).
   
 
Summary of West Virginia's 55 County Totals
 
Short Term Average
 
 
Below
(2.81%)
Above
(2.81%)
 
Long
Term
Average
Above
(-0.31%)
9
11
20
Below
(-0.31%)
20
15
35
 
29
26
55
 
   
Leading Counties
2021 vs. 2010-2021 Averages
Leading Counties
white dot
West Virginia:
2010-2021 = -0.31%
2021 = 2.81%
Turning attention to the top-right quadrant from the discussion above, this figure features the distribution of the West Virginia counties classified as Leading. These counties surpassed West Virginia's average annual employment growth both long-term (2010-2021 = -0.31%) as well as near-term (2021 = 2.81%). Each is identified by its corresponding ranking based on its average annual employment growth rate over 2010-2021 as noted in the table below.
Of West Virginia's 55 counties, 11 (20%) are classified within the Leading () category. Those counties ranked by their long-term average include:
NOTE: Click on any county name to highlight its position in the chart above.
Slipping Counties
2021 vs. 2010-2021 Averages
Slipping Counties
white dot
West Virginia:
2010-2021 = -0.31%
2021 = 2.81%
This figure depicts the distribution of the 9 West Virginia counties classified as Slipping (top-left quadrant), in that their long-term average annual employment growth rate outpaced the average statewide (2010-2021 = -0.31%), while they trailed the statewide average near-term (2021 = 2.81%). Again, each county is identified by it's corresponding ranking based on its average annual employment growth rate over 2010-2021.
Observe that 9 ( 16%) of West Virginia's 55 counties are classified as Slipping (). Those counties ranked by their long-term average include:
NOTE: Click on any county name to highlight its position in the chart above.
Gaining Counties
2021 vs. 2010-2021 Averages
Gaining Counties
white dot
West Virginia:
2010-2021 = -0.31%
2021 = 2.81%
This figure shows the distribution of the 15 West Virginia counties classified as Gaining (bottom-right quadrant), in that their long-term average annual employment growth rate posted below the average statewide (2010-2021 = -0.31%), while they outpaced West Virginia's average near-term (2021 = 2.81%). Again, each county is identified by its corresponding ranking based on its average annual employment growth rate over 2010-2021.
Of West Virginia's 55 counties, 27% (15) are featured as Gaining (). Those counties ranked by their long-term average include:
NOTE: Click on any county name to highlight its position in the chart above.
Lagging Counties
2021 vs. 2010-2021 Averages
Lagging Counties
white dot
West Virginia:
2010-2021 = -0.31%
2021 = 2.81%
This figure depicts the distributions of the 20 West Virginia counties classified as Lagging (bottom-left quadrant). These counties trailed the statewide average annual employment growth both long-term (2010-2021 = -0.31%) as well as near-term (2021 = 2.81%). Again, each county is identified by its corresponding ranking based on it's average annual employment growth rate over 2010-2021.
36% of West Virginia's counties, 20 of 55, are characterized here as Lagging (). Those counties ranked by their long-term average include:
NOTE: Click on any county name to highlight its position in the chart above.
   
 
West Virginia
Employment Growth
County vs. Statewide Average
 
2010-2021
 
2021
 
 
Leading Counties
 
7
0.79
 
15
3.87
5,829
 
1
2.10
 
11
4.23
51,295
 
18
-0.03
 
9
4.49
17,968
 
15
0.16
 
26
2.88
7,281
 
4
1.03
 
3
5.45
24,424
 
11
0.37
 
24
3.08
11,251
 
3
1.21
 
10
4.46
74,858
 
20
-0.11
 
6
4.66
4,691
 
9
0.62
 
18
3.69
27,886
 
13
0.27
 
5
4.90
3,681
 
5
0.97
 
1
27.73
1,603
Slipping Counties
 
19
-0.08
 
31
2.43
62,742
 
2
1.97
 
51
-1.86
2,636
 
12
0.36
 
28
2.61
45,648
 
8
0.69
 
48
-1.07
11,200
 
17
0.10
 
54
-2.66
13,500
 
16
0.13
 
29
2.57
5,061
 
10
0.43
 
42
0.99
11,755
 
14
0.20
 
32
2.36
4,849
 
6
0.82
 
37
1.49
5,034
Gaining Counties
 
24
-0.33
 
8
4.62
2,515
 
53
-2.92
 
12
4.19
2,037
 
46
-1.21
 
21
3.52
13,670
 
43
-1.12
 
19
3.66
2,889
 
40
-0.97
 
25
3.02
7,680
 
48
-1.31
 
2
5.93
12,061
 
42
-1.08
 
17
3.72
23,965
 
39
-0.96
 
14
3.97
8,415
 
29
-0.61
 
22
3.48
33,856
 
44
-1.17
 
20
3.54
3,157
 
25
-0.34
 
7
4.64
3,657
 
28
-0.60
 
16
3.84
10,401
 
26
-0.39
 
13
4.18
5,631
 
32
-0.81
 
23
3.25
44,242
 
45
-1.19
 
4
5.22
5,684
Lagging Counties
 
55
-4.57
 
41
1.26
5,633
 
36
-0.91
 
47
-0.59
4,909
 
23
-0.32
 
35
2.08
9,537
 
27
-0.50
 
38
1.47
5,163
 
49
-1.82
 
40
1.26
11,452
 
22
-0.32
 
50
-1.49
7,536
 
34
-0.89
 
30
2.54
117,946
 
50
-2.36
 
45
0.44
3,462
 
51
-2.38
 
43
0.62
4,906
 
41
-1.07
 
27
2.66
25,058
 
54
-4.46
 
52
-2.20
5,828
 
30
-0.68
 
46
-0.31
3,905
 
47
-1.28
 
36
1.93
9,199
 
38
-0.95
 
39
1.32
2,922
 
21
-0.32
 
34
2.14
38,826
 
31
-0.75
 
44
0.50
14,239
 
35
-0.91
 
55
-5.36
4,877
 
33
-0.86
 
53
-2.29
2,773
 
37
-0.93
 
33
2.21
11,180
 
52
-2.83
 
49
-1.45
2,106
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
-0.31
 
2.81
864,509
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
1.31
 
3.82
202,752,100
November 2023
REAP_PI_CA1400_1000_LSGL
 
   
Copyright © 2023. Pacific Northwest Regional Economic Analysis Project (PNREAP). All Rights Reserved.

Please stay tuned...
while your request is processing:

Please wait while your request is being processed...
To offer the most comprehensive set of interactive options in support of your research, WV-REAP calculates and crunches most of the data and generates the narrative and graphic analysis on demand in response to your request.
Your request will soon be available.
Just a few more seconds....Your request has been generated and is now loading the results.