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 Beauregard Parish's annual total industry earnings over 1970-2021 in current and constant (2012) dollars. Constant dollar measurements remove the effects of inflation. They allow for comparison of changes in the real purchasing power of Beauregard Parish over time.

When measured in current dollars, Beauregard Parish's total industry earnings increased 1,396.09%, from $39M in 1970 to $584M in 2021. When measured in constant 2012 dollars to adjust for inflation, it advanced 170.57%, from $187M in 1970 to $505M in 2021.

Figure 2 tracks Beauregard Parish's and Louisiana's annual real total industry earnings for the period 1969-2021 to illustrate real total industry earnings patterns over time. During this 53-year period, Beauregard Parish's real total industry earnings rose from $157M in 1969 to $505M in 2021, for a net gain of $349M, or 222.30%. In comparison, Louisiana's real total industry earnings increased from $44,776M in 1969 to $133,379M in 2021, for a net advance of $88,604M, or 197.88%.

Figure 3 shows Beauregard Parish's real total industry earnings growth in a broader context by offering direct comparisons across time with Louisiana, 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.

Beauregard Parish's overall real total industry earnings growth was 222.30% over 1969-2021 outpaced Louisiana's increase of 197.88%, and fell below the United States' increase of 277.56%.

Another interesting and insightful way of contrasting the total industry earnings growth of Beauregard Parish is to compare its individual percentage contributions to Louisiana's statewide 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 Louisiana's total industry earnings, while a declining share shows it grew more slowly.

In 1969, Beauregard Parish's total industry earnings totaled 0.35% of Louisiana's total industry earnings, while in 2021 it totaled 0.38% thereby yielding a +0.03% share-shift.

Figure 5 displays the short-run pattern of Beauregard Parish's real total industry earnings growth by tracking the year-to-year percent change over 1970-2021. The average annual percent change for the entire 52-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, Beauregard Parish's real total industry earnings grew at an annual rate of 2.39% over 1970-2021. The parish posted its highest growth in 1970 (19.12%) and recorded its lowest growth in 1988 (-6.02%). In 2021, Beauregard Parish's real total industry earnings declined by -1.86%

Over the past five decades some parishes have experienced extreme swings in growth, and often such swings have tended to coincide with the decades themselves. Figure 6 again illustrates the annual percent change in Beauregard Parish's real total industry earnings since 1970, but this time they are overlayed with average growth rates for the decade of the 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, 2000s, 2010s, and 2020-2021.

During the 1970s, Beauregard Parish's annual real total industry earnings growth rate averaged 7.67%. It averaged 0.48% during the 1980s, 2.87% throughout the 1990s, 1.05% in the 2000s, 0.19% in the 2010s, 0.93% thus far this decade (2020-2021).

Figure 7 compares the decade average growth rates for Beauregard Parish noted in the previous graph with the corresponding decade averages for Louisiana and the nation. As the chart reveals, Beauregard Parish's average annual real total industry earnings growth outpaced Louisiana's average throughout the 1970s (7.67% vs. 4.91%), outgained Louisiana's average throughout the 1980s (0.48% vs. 0.02%), posted below Louisiana's average during the 1990s (2.87% vs. 3.04%), amounted to less than Louisiana's average during the 2000s (1.05% vs. 2.41%), recorded under Louisiana's average in the 2010s (0.19% vs. 1.00%), and registered above Louisiana's average over the 2 year period of the current decade, 2020-2021 (0.93% vs. -0.78%).

Finally, relative to nationwide real total industry earnings growth trends, Beauregard Parish registered above the nation in the 1970s (7.67% vs. 3.13%), fell under the nation over the 1980s (0.48% vs. 2.62%), lagged the nation over the 1990s (2.87% vs. 3.43%), recorded underneath the nation in the 2000s (1.05% vs. 1.47%), posted below the nation in the 2010s (0.19% vs. 2.53%), and posted below the nation over 2020-2021 (0.93% vs. 2.08%).