August 2020

A Publication of the Labor Market Information Institute

Now Monthly Newsletter

Mid-Term Projections Update – Your Choice!

You now have choices when it comes to employment projections!

Employment projections are data-driven estimates about the state of the labor market for a certain year in the future. Job seekers, employers, training institutions, career counselors, and economic planners all use projections to help make critical decisions in areas including the following:

• Career counseling;
• Planning for employment, education and training programs;
• Economic development and other state or regional planning; and
• Supporting documentation to apply for federal grants.

Until now, you were required to produce 2-year and 10-year employment projections. If you chose, you could also produce projections for an additional timeframe—but that would have meant producing three sets of projections within your existing resources. And there was no established methodology for anything other than the 2-year and 10-year time horizons.

The Projections Managing Partnership (PMP), which is responsible for creating, maintaining, and improving shared software and methodologies for producing industry and occupational employment projections, has developed and piloted a new approach that allows states to produce mid-term projections by pro-rating the results of the 2-year and 10-year projections.

Once you have produced your 2-year and 10-year employment projections, you can quickly generate projections for any intervening year (i.e., years 3-9) using a new module in the existing projection software suite. 

This new functionality is even more important given the economic uncertainty brought on by the global pandemic. It allows you to incorporate the short-term economic reality of the 2-year projections but moderate that current state with the full-employment assumption of the 10-year projections. This allows you to customize your projection results using the timeframe that best meets your customer needs and reflects the future of your state’s economy.

To learn more, watch the recording of the July 16th State Projections Analyst Pre-Summit Forum.

How Trends in Certification Attainment and Associated Earnings vary by Race, Ethnicity, and Education

Among the US population aged 25 and older, the percentage of the population with a certification but no license (“certification only”) is similar across all racial and ethnic groups, with a marginally higher rate for White and Asian persons than Black or Hispanic persons. 

Persons with higher levels of education are more likely to have a certification only than less educated persons regardless of race and/or ethnicity. Roughly 1% of all persons with only a high school diploma have a certification only, compared to 2.5% of all persons with an Associate’s degree and 2.5% of all persons with a Bachelor’s degree as their highest level of education. 

Variation in certification only attainment by race is slightly more apparent at the Advanced Degree level (Master’s and Above), the level of education with the highest certification only attainment rate across race and/or ethnicities. 3.7% of Black or African American persons with an advanced degree have a certification only, while only 2.8% of White and Hispanic or LatinX persons with similar education have a certification only. 

Despite similar rates of certification only attainment across race and/or ethnicity, including when analyzed by level of education, certification only attainment is not associated with equal returns to earnings across race and/or ethnicity.

Read more here.

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Michigan’s WIOA Program Dashboard

Michigan’s Workforce Program Dashboard was created to provide workforce development policymakers with the information they need to increase equity and access in workforce programs. By allowing policymakers to see where disparities in program access exist, targeted initiatives will be able to improve access to the resources that ensure future prosperity. Incorporating administrative data from Michigan’s job centers, the tool showcases how state researchers can promote equitable and accessible policies and research in their states. Note the Dashboard is only available to internal policymakers, however, the tool’s concept can be applicable to many states.

Michigan Department of Technology, Management, and Budget Economic Analyst, Ruth Archer presented the Michigan Workforce Program Dashboard at the 2020 Annual LMI Institute Forum. Click here to watch Ruth’s presentation. 

Note the Dashboard is only available to internal policymakers, however, the tool’s concept can be applicable to many states.

Florida: Online Job Demand Tool

The Florida Online Job Demand tool delivers data produced by Help Wanted OnLine (HWOL) to measure of real-time labor demand captured through online job ads. Features will allow users to explore the top jobs, including STEM related occupations, that are in demand across the state. 

Help Wanted OnLine from The Conference Board is a measure of real-time labor demand captured through online job ads. The Conference Board compiles online job ads from over 1,200 job boards and publishes the data in an online application that covers national, state, Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) and county levels, detailed by occupation, industry and employer.

Since the online ads are a direct indication of hiring intent by employers, the ads serve as a measure of labor demand. Reports of hiring demand by area, industry, occupation and employer are a valuable tool for identifying employment opportunities and helping with the reemployment of Florida’s out-of-work citizens. The Department of Economic Opportunity, Bureau of Workforce Statistics and Economic Research compiles and publishes reports every month from Help Wanted Online that show hiring demand at the state level and by regional workforce regions. See the Online Job Tool here.

Want us to feature your state’s work?

We welcome your feedback on this edition, and for content suggestions in future editions, of The LMI Insider. Please direct comments, questions, or for more information on the LMI Institute to Marty Romitti, CREC Senior Vice President, at mromitti@crec.net