Leading, Slipping, Gaining, Lagging Analysis:
Assessing Retail Trade Employment Growth
Across West Virginia Counties
Retail Trade
Employment Growth
County vs Statewide Average: 2010-2022 and 2022
Retail Trade
Employment Growth
West Virginia:
2010-2022 = -0.63%
2022 = 1.51%
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 retail trade 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 retail trade employment growth of West Virginia's 55 counties over the latest available year (2022) against the backdrop of their growth over the long term period (2010-2022). In so doing we classify their growth and performance into 4 broad categories: Leading, Slipping, Gaining and Lagging.
Retail Trade
Employment Growth
County vs Statewide Average: 2010-2022 and 2022
Retail Trade
Employment Growth
West Virginia:
2010-2022 = -0.63%
2022 = 1.51%
This figure displays the 55 counties of West Virginia as dots on a scattergram, with the vertical axis representing the average annual retail trade employment growth rate over the long-term period (2010-2022), and the horizontal axis representing the retail trade employment growth rate for the near-term (2022).
This figure sets apart those counties whose long-term retail trade employment growth exceeded the statewide average of -0.63%, by portraying them in the top two quadrants demarcated at -0.63% on the vertical axis. County whose long-term average annual retail trade employment growth rate trailed the statewide average (-0.63%) are distributed in the bottom two quadrants. In all, 29 counties surpassed the statewide average over 2010-2022, while 22 counties fell below.
Similarly, the two quadrants on the right of this figure present the positions of the 30 counties whose most recent (2022) retail trade employment growth rate exceeded the statewide average (1.51%). The two quadrants on the left feature those 21 counties whose retail trade employment growth over 2022 trailed the statewide average.
Accordingly, each quadrant portrays the performance of all 55 counties corresponding with their long-term (2010-2022) and near-term (2022) performance relative to their respective statewide averages of -0.63% over 2010-2022 and 1.51% over 2022:
Leading counties () (top-right quadrant)...are counties whose average annual retail trade employment growth rate surpassed the statewide average both long-term (-0.63%) and near-term (1.51%).
Slipping counties () (top-left quadrant)...are counties whose long-term average annual retail trade employment growth rate exceeded the statewide average (-0.63%), but whose near-term growth has "slipped" by falling below the West Virginia average (1.51%).
Gaining counties () (bottom-right quadrant)...are counties whose long-term average annual retail trade employment growth rate fell below the statewide average (-0.63%), but whose near-term growth has "gained" by registering above the average (1.51%) statewide.
Lagging counties () (bottom-left quadrant)...are counties whose average annual retail trade employment growth rate fell under the statewide average both long-term (-0.63%) and near-term (1.51%).
   
 
Summary of West Virginia's 55 County Totals
 
Short Term Average
 
 
Below
(1.51%)
Above
(1.51%)
 
Long
Term
Average
Above
(-0.63%)
9
20
29
Below
(-0.63%)
12
10
22
 
21
30
51
 
   
Leading Counties
2022 vs. 2010-2022 Averages
Leading Counties
white dot
West Virginia:
2010-2022 = -0.63%
2022 = 1.51%
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 retail trade employment growth both long-term (2010-2022 = -0.63%) as well as near-term (2022 = 1.51%). Each is identified by its corresponding ranking based on it's average annual retail trade employment growth rate over 2010-2022.
Of West Virginia's 55 counties, 20 (36%) are classified within the Leading () category. Those counties ranked by their long-term average include:
Slipping Counties
2022 vs. 2010-2022 Averages
Slipping Counties
West Virginia:
2010-2022 = -0.63%
2022 = 1.51%
This figure depicts the distribution of the 9 West Virginia counties classified as Slipping (top-left quadrant), in that their long-term average annual retail trade employment growth rate outpaced the average statewide (2010-2022 = -0.63%), while they trailed the statewide average near-term (2022 = 1.51%). Again, each county is identified by it's corresponding ranking based on its average annual retail trade employment growth rate over 2010-2022.
Observe that 9 (16%) of West Virginia's 55 counties are classified as Slipping (). Those counties ranked by their long-term average include:
Gaining Counties
2022 vs. 2010-2022 Averages
Gaining Counties
white dot
West Virginia:
2010-2022 = -0.63%
2022 = 1.51%
This figure shows the distribution of the 10 West Virginia counties classified as Gaining (bottom-right quadrant), in that their long-term average annual retail trade employment growth rate posted below the average statewide (2010-2022 = -0.63%), while they outpaced West Virginia's average near-term (2022 = 1.51%). Again, each county is identified by its corresponding ranking based on its average annual retail trade employment growth rate over 2010-2022.
Of West Virginia's 55 counties, 18% (10) are featured as Gaining (). Those counties ranked by their long-term average include:
Lagging Counties
2022 vs. 2010-2022 Averages
Lagging Counties
white dot
West Virginia:
2010-2022 = -0.63%
2022 = 1.51%
This figure depicts the distributions of the 12 West Virginia counties classified as Lagging (bottom-left quadrant). These counties trailed the statewide average annual retail trade employment growth both long-term (2010-2022 = -0.63%) as well as near-term (2022 = 1.51%). Again, each county is identified by its corresponding ranking based on it's average annual retail trade employment growth rate over 2010-2022.
22% of West Virginia's counties, 12 of 55, are characterized here as Lagging (). Those counties ranked by their long-term average include:
   
 
West Virginia
Retail Trade Employment Growth
County vs. Statewide Average
 
2010-2022
 
2022
 
 
Leading Counties
 
2
1.37
 
10
3.28
5,988
 
25
-0.47
 
31
1.51
7,445
 
27
-0.53
 
3
6.34
218
 
20
-0.31
 
29
1.54
529
 
11
0.46
 
19
2.24
775
 
8
0.60
 
26
1.75
2,729
 
16
-0.21
 
14
2.75
971
 
28
-0.58
 
1
8.51
421
 
15
-0.17
 
18
2.50
1,436
 
14
-0.14
 
9
3.44
961
 
18
-0.26
 
4
5.63
1,333
 
26
-0.48
 
5
5.16
1,243
 
10
0.58
 
20
2.19
3,038
 
7
0.63
 
21
2.13
431
 
17
-0.21
 
8
3.49
653
 
3
1.36
 
7
3.58
636
 
12
0.39
 
12
2.88
321
 
4
0.87
 
15
2.73
301
 
19
-0.27
 
24
2.02
1,210
 
29
-0.61
 
25
1.78
1,030
Slipping Counties
 
13
-0.11
 
45
0.20
490
 
6
0.67
 
38
0.84
838
 
1
3.48
 
44
0.26
1,151
 
21
-0.34
 
46
0.00
733
 
23
-0.44
 
35
1.34
5,160
 
9
0.60
 
36
1.06
7,054
 
5
0.73
 
33
1.40
651
 
24
-0.46
 
43
0.33
1,514
 
22
-0.38
 
46
0.00
1,315
Gaining Counties
 
41
-1.34
 
17
2.63
195
 
40
-1.29
 
23
2.04
1,805
 
51
-3.00
 
16
2.70
1,103
 
37
-1.11
 
27
1.63
1,808
 
38
-1.22
 
30
1.52
2,741
 
31
-0.90
 
22
2.10
3,451
 
43
-1.43
 
2
6.98
552
 
36
-1.08
 
11
3.11
232
 
48
-2.04
 
28
1.55
196
 
33
-1.06
 
12
2.88
214
Lagging Counties
 
49
-2.45
 
50
-0.60
662
 
46
-1.59
 
39
0.66
1,968
 
34
-1.07
 
51
-2.69
1,411
 
45
-1.45
 
40
0.63
11,571
 
50
-2.78
 
48
-0.38
519
 
32
-0.90
 
42
0.54
3,704
 
30
-0.79
 
49
-0.50
398
 
42
-1.38
 
41
0.56
4,878
 
35
-1.07
 
34
1.36
1,645
 
47
-2.00
 
52
-2.78
280
 
44
-1.45
 
32
1.41
6,338
 
39
-1.27
 
37
0.89
682
Undefined/Suppressed Counties
 
U
U
 
S
S
170
 
U
U
 
53
-15.89
127
 
U
U
 
S
S
277
 
U
U
 
6
3.70
168
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
-0.63
 
1.51
97,670
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
0.72
 
2.22
19,510,300
November 2023
REAP_PI_CA1500N_510700_LSGL
 
   
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