1. Analysis of Secondary Employment and Labor Force Data for the SEWIB Region Presentation to the SEWIB Consortium by Mt. Auburn Associates October 1, 2002

2. Purpose of the Analysis Identify common or complementary employment and industry characteristics Identify common or complementary workforce characteristics Identify spatial relationships of industry and workforce across WIA boundaries that may facilitate joint activity Use secondary analysis to sharpen focus of primary research

3. Organization of the Analysis General overview of economy and labor force Indicators of balance between labor force demand and supply Industry structure Occupational structure Commuting patterns Socioeconomic characteristics of the workforce Emerging workforce

4. Economic Overview: Employment

10. Economic Overview: Labor Force

14. Supply/Demand Balance

20. Industry Structure

35. Occupational Structure

38. Commuting Patterns

46. Socioeconomic Characteristics of Workforce

60. Emerging Workforce

62. Key Findings 1. The distinct employment patterns among the five Southeast Region WIAs have blurred as employment in the region has dispersed from mature urban centers to suburban communities. 2. Regional commuting patterns indicate high levels of labor force mobility. It is likely that there is a significant level of cross-border commuting between the five WIAs. 3. Low use of public transportation in all five WIAs may indicate mobility problems for workers who don’t have their own vehicles. Usage is particularly low in areas without commuter rail.

63. Key Findings 4. There is at least a rough balance between jobs and workers in all of the WIAs, and the ratio of jobs to workers has been increasing. This indicates that unemployment and underemployment are more a factor of skills mismatch, mobility problems, or other barriers than overall lack of job opportunities. 5. There is evidence of increasing employment concentrations and net worker inflows along major highway corridors. These corridors typically cut across WIA boundaries. 6. The economies of all five WIAs are increasingly dominated by the service and trade sectors. The industry structures of the five WIAs are generally similar at the primary industry level, with the exception of manufacturing and financial services.

64. Key Findings 7. Service and manufacturing industry employment remain concentrated in a small number of employment centers, although manufacturing employment is becoming more dispersed. Trade employment is more evenly distributed. 8. There are strong commonalities across all five WIAs in the structure of both their service and trade sectors at the 2-digit SIC level. 9. There are also commonalities across WIAs in the presence of certain technology manufacturing industries. 10. There is evidence of relatively strong employment opportunities in service, clerical and sales occupations across WIAs.

65. Key Findings 11. All WIAs have similar and significant adult populations with intermediate educational attainment. They vary in the proportions of population with low educational attainment. Bristol and New Bedford are at the high end, South Coastal and the Cape at the low end, and Brockton is in between. 12. Special needs populations (e.g., low education, minorities, new immigrants, poor English speakers, female-headed households with children) tend to cluster in sets of adjacent and nearby communities, and these clusters often cut across WIA boundaries.