The Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) uses an index-based county economic classification system to identify and monitor the economic status of Appalachian counties. The system involves the creation of a national index of county economic status through a comparison of each county’s averages for three economic indicators—three-year average unemployment rate, per capita market income, and poverty rate—with national averages. The resulting values are summed and averaged to create a composite index value for each county. Each county in the nation is then ranked, based on its composite index value, with higher values indicating higher levels of distress. County Economic Levels Each Appalachian county is classified into one of five economic status designations, based on its position in the national ranking. Distressed At-Risk Transitional Competitive Attainment ARC County Economic Status Designation by National Index Value Rank
|
||||||||||||||||
County Economic Indicators ThreeYear Average Unemployment Rate Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Local Area Unemployment Statistics. http://www.bls.gov/lau/home.htm Per Capita Market Income Source: U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Economic Information System. http://www.bea.gov/regional/reis Poverty Rate Source: U.S. Department of Commerce, Census Bureau, Census of Population and Housing 2000 Summary File 3. http://www.census.gov/hhes/www/poverty.html Time Series ARC computes new county economic levels each fiscal year based on the most current data available at the beginning of the calendar year of computation. The time series used for each economic indicator and fiscal year is listed in the table below. |
|
|||||||||||||||