The National Association of Counties (NACo) recently analyzed the county economic conditions in all counties in the nation that have a county government, which most counties in the nation have. According to Emilia Istrate and Tadas Pack, County Economies 2016, NACo, February 2017, “County economies are the building blocks of regional economies, states and the nation. County economic conditions can constrain and challenge county governments, residents and businesses or, conversely, provide opportunity.” Their analysis of county economic conditions identified growth and recovery patterns for 2016 by looking at the annual changes in jobs, unemployment rate, economic output (GDP) and median home prices.
Washburn County’s results are very positive. Istrate and Pack’s research indicates that Washburn County has, indeed, recovered economically in all 4 of the measures used to determine an economic recovery. This is good news for Washburn County, especially when the results show that just over 1 in 4 counties in the nation have recovered in all four categories. To compare with some of our neighboring counties, Burnett recovered in 3 of the 4 areas, while Sawyer County recovered in 1 of the 4 categories.
(Click image above or here to view in PDF)
An interesting note of the analysis is that 55% of county economies had real wages rise slower in 2016 than 2015. In Washburn County, real wages grew faster in 2016.
What do these numbers mean? It means that the economy in Washburn County has recovered more quickly than about 75% of counties in the nation. It is a step in the right direction. It is obviously just one step in a long journey toward success and prosperity in the County, but it’s a step forward nonetheless.
For further information on this study or to read the report, visit the following link. http://www.naco.org/resources/county-economies-2016-widespread-recovery-slower-growth
Per Executive Director Joel Zimmerman, WCEDC
Last Update: Mar 30, 2017 2:13 pm CDT
