Outcome: Increase jobs that add to King County's economic base

Employment in industries that export from the region

About this indicator

This indicator is intended to identify employment in industries that export their products or services from King County. As a proxy, this indicator instead reports total jobs in industries with a high location quotient (LQ) - industries with employment that exists in higher concentrations in King County compared to the U.S. average.

LQ is a ratio between the local economy and a larger reference economy; LQ greater than 1.0 indicates a larger share of jobs than expected in King County when compared to the nation.

Industries with both a high LQ and high total jobs are important not only for the jobs they provide, but also for the jobs they create in other industries like retail trade. A high-LQ industry with a small number of jobs is less vital to the region's economy. In addition to the number of jobs and LQ of an industry, this indicator also tracks the percent change in LQ over a given time period:

• High and increasing LQ, high total jobs - important and highperforming industries that increasingly distinguish the regional economy, increasing workforce demand.
• High and increasing LQ, small total jobs - emerging industries of regional importance with potential for futrher development.

Key findings

• Employment in software publishers industry: 49,017 jobs (2008)
• LQ for software publishers industry: 20.53 (2008)
• Percent change in LQ since 2002 for software publishers industry: 30.9% (2008)

Last updated August 2009

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Technical notes

Employment data provided by Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW) available from the U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). LQs are determined using the following calculation:

This calculation was performed automatically using the location quotient calculator provided by BLS. The analysis uses the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS), which replaced the Standard Industry Classification (SIC) system in 2002. Industry designations are based on 4-digit NAICS codes.