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 Oxford County's annual total industry earnings over 1970-2021 in current and constant (2012) dollars. Constant dollar measurements remove the effects of inflation. They allow for comparison of changes in the real purchasing power of Oxford County over time.

When measured in current dollars, Oxford County's total industry earnings increased 966.13%, from $109M in 1970 to $1,164M in 2021. When measured in constant 2012 dollars to adjust for inflation, it advanced 92.81%, from $522M in 1970 to $1,006M in 2021.

Figure 2 tracks Oxford County's and Maine's annual real total industry earnings for the period 1969-2021 to illustrate real total industry earnings patterns over time. During this 53-year period, Oxford County's real total industry earnings rose from $528M in 1969 to $1,006M in 2021, for a net gain of $478M, or 90.57%. In comparison, Maine's real total industry earnings advanced from $13,055M in 1969 to $43,046M in 2021, for a net gain of $29,991M, or 229.73%.

Figure 3 portrays Oxford County's real total industry earnings growth in a broader context by offering direct comparisons across time with Maine, 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.

Oxford County's overall real total industry earnings growth was 90.57% over 1969-2021 trailed Maine's increase of 229.73%, and fell below the United States' increase of 277.56%.

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

In 1969, Oxford County's total industry earnings comprised 4.05% of Maine's total industry earnings, while in 2021 it comprised 2.34% thereby yielding a -1.71% share-shift.

Figure 5 highlights the short-run pattern of Oxford County's real total industry earnings growth by tracking the year-to-year percent change over 1970-2021. The average annual percent change for the entire 52-year period is also illustrated 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, Oxford County's real total industry earnings grew at an annual rate of 1.32% over 1970-2021. The county recorded its highest growth in 1976 (12.49%) and posted its lowest growth in 1982 (-7.18%). In 2021, Oxford County's real total industry earnings grew by 3.36%

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 6 again traces the annual percent change in Oxford County's real total industry earnings since 1970, but this time they are displayed with average growth rates for the decade of the 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, 2000s, 2010s, and 2020-2021.

During the 1970s, Oxford County's annual real total industry earnings growth rate averaged 2.47%. It averaged 1.61% in the 1980s, 1.08% in the 1990s, 0.43% in the 2000s, 0.94% during the 2010s, 1.65% thus far this decade (2020-2021).

Figure 7 compares the decade average growth rates for Oxford County noted in the previous graph with the corresponding decade averages for Maine and the nation. As the chart reveals, Oxford County's average annual real total industry earnings growth fell below Maine's average in the 1970s (2.47% vs. 3.02%), trailed Maine's average during the 1980s (1.61% vs. 3.78%), recorded under Maine's average during the 1990s (1.08% vs. 1.90%), lagged Maine's average throughout the 2000s (0.43% vs. 1.41%), posted below Maine's average in the 2010s (0.94% vs. 1.47%), and recorded under Maine's average over the 2 year period of the current decade, 2020-2021 (1.65% vs. 3.54%).

Finally, relative to nationwide real total industry earnings growth trends, Oxford County fell below the nation in the 1970s (2.47% vs. 3.13%), posted below the nation in the 1980s (1.61% vs. 2.62%), lagged the nation in the 1990s (1.08% vs. 3.43%), fell below the nation during the 2000s (0.43% vs. 1.47%), recorded underneath the nation over the 2010s (0.94% vs. 2.53%), and fell below the nation over 2020-2021 (1.65% vs. 2.08%).