Weekly Economic Trends and Indicators
This week we depart from our usual focus on the economic and business headlines to discuss another important component of the local and national economy—education. Regional economic development depends on a vibrant labor force to fill the growing number of jobs. In order to prepare those workers for the jobs of today and tomorrow, we need strong educational institutions at all levels. We also need good data on the supply of graduates coming from those institutions as well as data on the demand for those graduates.
Followers of this weekly blog will recall that we devote a significant amount of attention to labor market data. This is because of the critical importance of labor market data for economic development professionals. As an example of the importance of this data, at a recent conference of the Council for Community and Economic Research and the Labor Market Institute Annual Forum, sessions on labor market data were some of the most popular sessions. Not surprisingly, many of those sessions also featured education data.
Over the last few years, the data have been signaling a shift in the labor market. A concern for economic development professionals throughout the country is the nationwide shortage of labor that is particularly acute in certain regions. Last month, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce published an in-depth article on this labor shortage that summarizes the problem. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, job openings have exceeded the number of unemployed workers—a situation that is the exact opposite of the way the labor market normally works. Until and unless this situation reverses, growth will be constrained in industries and regions where the labor shortage is most severe.
As a consequence of this tight labor market, it is imperative that institutions of higher education, economic development professionals, and industry leaders work together to build labor pipelines to take students from high school to degree and certificate programs that satisfy market demand. Because understanding the data on the supply of labor coming from new graduates is the first step in building that pipeline, the Quad Cities Chamber has published our Graduate Inventory Report and a dashboard that provides a convenient way to find information on individual institutions in our area.
The Graduate Inventory Report and the accompanying dashboard summarizes the number of graduates from area institutions (within 90 miles) by program or major and by type of certificate or degree. The executive summary of the report contains the most important summary findings from the report, including the degrees and certificates with the largest number of graduates from all institutions in the Quad Cities area.
Pages 20 through 48 of the report may be of greatest interest to those interested in hiring graduates in the Quad Cities’ target industries. These industries—advanced manufacturing, defense, ag innovation, logistics, and professional and technical services—employ a large share of our labor force and continue to see high demand for new workers. In these pages, readers can find the number of graduates in programs leading to these jobs. For example, you can use these table to find what associate degrees lead to careers in logistics and how many students in our area received those degrees in the 2021-2022 academic year.
New features will be added to the dashboard over time, so check back periodically. We hope that you find this report to be interesting and useful for understanding an important component of the supply of labor in our region.
Next week: Manufacturing update
