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 Cibola County's annual total industry earnings over 1983-2022 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 Cibola County over time.

When measured in current dollars, Cibola County's total industry earnings increased 474.81%, from $75M in 1983 to $432M in 2022. When measured in constant 2017 dollars to adjust for inflation, it advanced 131.21%, from $161M in 1983 to $372M in 2022.

Figure 2 traces Cibola County's and New Mexico's annual real total industry earnings for the period 1982-2022 to illustrate real total industry earnings patterns over time. During this 41-year period, Cibola County's real total industry earnings rose from $216M in 1982 to $372M in 2022, for a net gain of $156M, or 72.29%. In comparison, New Mexico's real total industry earnings advanced from $22,805M in 1982 to $58,880M in 2022, for a net advance of $36,075M, or 158.19%.

Figure 3 portrays Cibola County's real total industry earnings growth in a broader context by offering direct comparisons across time with New Mexico, the United States. The growth indices shown here express each region's real total industry earnings in 1982 as a base figure of 100, and the real total industry earningss in later years as a percentage of the 1982 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.

Cibola County's overall real total industry earnings growth was 72.29% over 1982-2022 trailed New Mexico's increase of 158.19%, and fell below the United States' increase of 185.70%.

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

In 1982, Cibola County's total industry earnings comprised 0.95% of New Mexico's total industry earnings, while in 2022 it totaled 0.63% thereby yielding a -0.31% share-shift.

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 5 again depicts the annual percent change in Cibola County's real total industry earnings since 1983, but this time they are displayed with average growth rates for the decade of the 1990s, 2000s, 2010s, and 2020-2022.

During the 1990s, Cibola County's annual real total industry earnings growth rate averaged 3.21%. It averaged 4.83% throughout the 2000s, 0.20% in the 2010s, -3.26% thus far this decade (2020-2022).

Figure 6 compares the decade average growth rates for Cibola County noted in the previous graph with the corresponding decade averages for New Mexico and the nation. As the chart reveals, Cibola County's average annual real total industry earnings growth recorded under New Mexico's average during the 1990s (3.21% vs. 3.60%), exceeded New Mexico's average during the 2000s (4.83% vs. 2.86%), recorded under New Mexico's average throughout the 2010s (0.20% vs. 1.10%), and fell below New Mexico's average over the 3 year period of the current decade, 2020-2022 (-3.26% vs. 1.05%).

Finally, relative to nationwide real total industry earnings growth trends, Cibola County posted below the nation in the 1990s (3.21% vs. 3.43%), outpaced the nation in the 2000s (4.83% vs. 1.47%), fell under the nation over the 2010s (0.20% vs. 2.53%), and lagged the nation over 2020-2022 (-3.26% vs. 1.48%).