The United States economy has generated an impressive number of jobs since the 1970s. The contrast between the nation's vigorous employment growth and the modest performance of other major industrial countries is striking. Despite this rosy track record, the real (inflation adjusted) wages and salaries of many workers have stagnated or slipped in recent years. This development has provoked concerns about the quality of new jobs. Structural shifts in the composition of employment--from high-wage goods-producing to low-wage services-related sectors--is the culprit most often cited for the deteriorating quality of jobs.

Regions vary greatly in the make-up of their labor force, in their industry composition of employment, and their economic experience. Reviewing and examining recent developments in average earnings per job in Towner County with comparisons to North Dakota and the nation is an important first step in understanding the economic forces at play in Towner County.

Discussion: Average Annual Earnings Per Job are computed by dividing BEA total industry earnings estimates by the BEA total full- and part-time jobs estimates. No convenient or adequate means exist at the county or regional level for converting the job estimates to a full-time equivalent measure. So, interpret the average earnings per job estimates with caution in consideration of the following issues:

Average earnings per job within industries involving more part-time work is lower than industries involving more full-time work, although there could be little difference in the underlying wage of full-time workers. Such differences could also prevail between counties and regions. An increase in the proportion of part-time jobs over time may erode average earnings per job estimates, although full-time earnings per worker may have remained unchanged.

As with per capita income, average earnings per job may be subject to extreme short-run variation, especially in smaller counties. Major construction projects relating to building dams, nuclear power plants, and private plant construction projects have caused extreme fluctuations in many smaller counties. Such changes typify both small and large agriculture-dependent counties owing to the extreme annual variations in farm incomes. Also, Since average earnings per job are just a simple average, it does not account for variations in the distribution of earnings among high- vs. low-wage jobs.

Figure 1 depicts Towner County's annual average earnings per job over 1970-2022 in current and constant (2017) dollars. Constant dollar measurements remove the effects of inflation. They allow for comparison of changes in the real purchasing power of Towner County over time.

When measured in current dollars, Towner County's average earnings per job increased 1,995.53%, from $5,205 in 1970 to $109,067 in 2022. When measured in constant 2017 dollars to adjust for inflation, it advanced 256.94%, from $26,332 in 1970 to $93,988 in 2022.

Figure 2 traces Towner County's and North Dakota's annual real average earnings per job for the period 1969-2022 to illustrate real average earnings per job patterns over time. During this 54-year period, Towner County's real average earnings per job rose from $31,218 in 1969 to $93,988 in 2022, for a net gain of $62,770, or 201.07%. In comparison, North Dakota's real average earnings per job advanced from $31,618 in 1969 to $60,165 in 2022, for a net gain of $28,547, or 90.29%.

Figure 3 shows the short-run pattern of Towner County's real average earnings per job growth by tracking the year-to-year percent change over 1970-2022. The average annual percent change for the entire 53-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, Towner County's real average earnings per job grew at an annual rate of 12.58% over 1970-2022. The county posted its highest growth in 1981 (250.87%) and recorded its lowest growth in 1980 (-81.22%). In 2022, Towner County's real average earnings per job grew by 75.04%

Over the past five decades some counties have experienced extreme swings in growth, and often such swings have tended to coincide with the decades themselves. Figure 4 again depicts the annual percent change in Towner County's real average earnings per job since 1970, but this time they are overlayed with average growth rates for the decade of the 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, 2000s, 2010s, and 2020-2022.

During the 1970s, Towner County's annual real average earnings per job growth rate averaged 6.00%. It averaged 24.33% in the 1980s, 7.35% in the 1990s, 12.62% in the 2000s, 5.40% in the 2010s, 36.58% thus far this decade (2020-2022).

Figure 5 compares the decade average growth rates for Towner County noted in the previous graph with the corresponding decade averages for North Dakota and the nation. As the chart reveals, Towner County's average annual real average earnings per job growth exceeded North Dakota's average in the 1970s (6.00% vs. 2.00%), surpassed North Dakota's average during the 1980s (24.33% vs. -0.41%), topped North Dakota's average in the 1990s (7.35% vs. 1.77%), exceeded North Dakota's average during the 2000s (12.62% vs. 2.51%), outpaced North Dakota's average throughout the 2010s (5.40% vs. 2.04%), and led North Dakota's average over the 3 year period of the current decade, 2020-2022 (36.58% vs. 1.88%).

Finally, relative to nationwide real average earnings per job growth trends, Towner County recorded above the nation during the 1970s (6.00% vs. 0.89%), registered above the nation over the 1980s (24.33% vs. 0.71%), exceeded the nation in the 1990s (7.35% vs. 1.68%), registered above the nation over the 2000s (12.62% vs. 0.72%), outpaced the nation over the 2010s (5.40% vs. 1.01%), and outpaced the nation over 2020-2022 (36.58% vs. -0.24%).