No Longer Producing Data for American Samoa, Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands, & Guam
There are 5 U.S. Territories: American Samoa (AS), Guam (GU), the Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands (MP), Puerto Rico (PR), and the U.S. Virgin Islands (VI). However, due to the U.S. Census Bureau’s change in disclosure policy in 2017, which affects the County Business Patterns (CBP) data, on which we relied for industry employment and wages data for American Samoa, Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands, and Guam, IMPLAN no longer produces data for them.1 Because the BLS’ Census of Employment and Wages (CEW) data set covers Puerto Rico and US Virgin Islands, we do not rely on the CBP data for these two Territories and are able to continue producing data for them annually.
The BEA GDP data for the US Territories are released on a staggered schedule, with VI data typically released in the Spring and the PR data released in the Summer. Thus, the data will appear in the IMPLAN application on a correspondingly staggered schedule. The US Territory data have the same sectoring scheme as the regular US-based data and have all the same capabilities with the exception of Multi-Regional Input-Output (MRIO) modeling capability due to the lack of data on the trade of goods and services between the Territories and other geographies, including between the Territories themselves.
Incorporation of 2020 Decennial Census Data
The population values for PR and VI both came from the 2020 Decennial Censuses for these regions, rather than from the non-Census-year estimation sources.2
Puerto Rico Now Has 9 Household Income Categories
The US Census Bureau provides household counts by income group for PR, allowing us to now provide all relevant household data (household counts, spending patterns, saving, tax payments, etc.) for each of the 9 IMPLAN household income groups for PR, just as we do for the standard US-based IMPLAN models. The US Census Bureau does not provide household counts by income group for VI; rather, they publish a single total household count. Thus, the IMPLAN VI data continue to have a single household group representing all households.
Main Data Sources
- BLS CEW data for wage and salary employment and wages for most sectors
- Census of Agriculture for the U.S. Territories for farm sectors
- BEA GDP and its component parts
- BEA GDI and its component parts (VI only)
- Defense Manpower Data Center (DMDC) military employment data
- Census Bureau household counts and population (only PR has household counts by income group)
- The Island Area Economic Census (IAEC)
- Data elements include establishments, output, employee compensation, wage and salary income, and wage and salary employment
- Ratios from the IAEC are applied to current wage and salary employment and income by industry from other sources to obtain estimates of Employee Compensation and Output
- Ratios from the latest US IMPLAN data, including:
- Institution and Industry Spending Patterns
- Foreign trade rates
- Inter-institutional transfers
- Proprietor Employment and Income
Written December 29, 2022
1The Census Bureau has adopted a new policy under which they no longer provide establishment counts for cases in which the establishment count is less than three, as the number of establishments is now considered sensitive. This new decision to omit from their tables all records with fewer than three establishments was a new policy that was set in place to protect the confidentiality of businesses.
2The non-Census-year source for PR is: https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/popest/data/data-sets.html. There is no source of annual non-Census-year population estimates for VI; thus, we apply growth ratios (based on other data) to VI’s latest Decennial Census population value.