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 the United States' annual total industry earnings 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 the United States over time.

When measured in current dollars, the United States' total industry earnings increased 2,093.40%, from $693B in 1970 to $15,208B in 2022. When measured in constant 2017 dollars to adjust for inflation, it advanced 273.61%, from $3,508B in 1970 to $13,105B in 2022.

Figure 2 shows New Hampshire's real total industry earnings growth in a broader context by offering direct comparisons across time with 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.

New Hampshire's overall real total industry earnings growth was 469.26% over 1969-2022 outpaced the United States' increase of 278.59%.

Another interesting and insightful way of comparing the total industry earnings growth of New Hampshire is to trace its individual percentage contributions to the United States' total total industry earnings over time, as shown in Figure 3. A rising share means a region's total industry earnings grew faster, or declined less, than the United States' total industry earnings, while a declining share shows it grew more slowly.

In 1969, New Hampshire's total industry earnings totaled 0.31% of the United States' total industry earnings, while in 2022 it equated to 0.47% thereby yielding a +0.16% share-shift.

Figure 4 shows the short-run pattern of New Hampshire's real total industry earnings 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, New Hampshire's real total industry earnings grew at an annual rate of 3.41% over 1970-2022. The state posted its highest growth in 1998 (11.09%) and recorded its lowest growth in 1990 (-4.97%). In 2022, New Hampshire's real total industry earnings declined by -2.77%

Over the past five decades some states 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 New Hampshire'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 2020-2022.

During the 1970s, New Hampshire's annual real total industry earnings growth rate averaged 4.40%. It averaged 5.41% during the 1980s, 3.50% in the 1990s, 2.04% during the 2000s, 1.86% during the 2010s, 2.87% thus far this decade (2020-2022).

Figure 6 compares the decade average growth rates for New Hampshire noted in the previous graph with the corresponding decade averages for the nation.

Relative to nationwide real total industry earnings growth trends, New Hampshire registered above the nation during the 1970s (4.40% vs. 3.13%), recorded above the nation over the 1980s (5.41% vs. 2.62%), exceeded the nation in the 1990s (3.50% vs. 3.43%), led the nation during the 2000s (2.04% vs. 1.47%), lagged the nation in the 2010s (1.86% vs. 2.53%), and outperformed the nation over 2020-2022 (2.87% vs. 1.48%).