Using Census Data and Quarterly Wage Files to Analyze the COVID Recession and Recovery

The U.S. Census Bureau and the Local Employment Dynamics (LED) Partnership in collaboration with the Council for Community and Economic Research (C2ER) and the Labor Market Information (LMI) Institute, welcomes Anneliese Vance-Sherman and Scott Bailey as they present, “Using Census Data and Quarterly Wage Files to Analyze the COVID Recession and Recovery.” The COVID-19 pandemic ushered in a period of swift and deep labor market disruption and uneven recovery that varied by industry and community. This presentation begins with a high-level overview of impacts of the recession and recovery in Washington using standard measures of the labor market – the unemployment rate and nonfarm employment. LEHD products were particularly valuable for adding insights on the connection between employment (jobs) and characteristics of people who are employed in different industries by exploring selected industry employment patterns to determine how different communities were impacted.

Anneliese Vance-Sherman is a regional labor economist with the Washington State Employment Security Department, a position she has held since 2010. She works closely with economic and workforce development partners, media, businesses and others throughout the North and Central Puget Sound region and statewide, providing local labor market intelligence to help inform strategic decision-making.

In addition to her work with the state, Anneliese serves on a number of boards and advisory committees including the Pacific Northwest Regional Economic Conference (PNREC), the Seattle Economics Council, the Skagit Population Health Trust, and the Border Policy Research Institute, as well as several K-12 CTE and college workforce advisory committees.

Anneliese holds a Ph.D. in Economic Geography and a Master’s degree in Applied Economics, both from the State University of New York at Buffalo.

Scott Bailey has served as a regional economist for the Washington State Employment Security Department for over 33 years, covering southwest Washington. In addition to serving his region, Scott has produced statewide analyses of hourly wage trends using quarterly wage files. Years ago he partnered with Census, helping to train analysts in other states on how to understand and use LEHD and OnTheMap. Scott is a board member of the Pacific Northwest Regional Economic Conference (PNREC). He also served a term as a school board member for Portland Public Schools. Scott holds a master’s degree in economics from Portland State University.