Contact: Jim Laird
STARKVILLE, Miss.--A new interactive tool available through Mississippi State University's Economy Watch is giving students, business owners, economic developers, and others easy access to a variety of economic analyses.
Available at http://mississippi.reaproject.org, the Mississippi Regional Economic Analysis Project provides users the opportunity to, among other things, assess changing economic conditions in a specific county or region; make comparisons between Mississippi, other states or the nation as a whole; and examine trends.
BankPlus and Entergy are corporate sponsors.
"MS-REAP is a valuable resource for the state's business community and economic development efforts, and we're pleased that it's here at Mississippi State," said Economy Watch executive editor Becky Smith, an assistant research professor.
The online service provides a range of reporting options related to per capita income, population, total personal income, employment, total industry earnings, and average earnings per job. The system uses annual data compiled by the U.S. Department of Commerce's Bureau of Economic Analysis.
"Users will have the ability to generate statistics, research, analyses, and reports with a few clicks of their mouse," Smith said. "The website is intuitive, and reports explain trends and implications that can be understood clearly by non-economists."
A few of the MS-REAP tools include comparative trend analysis; comparative economic indicators; major components of income; shift-share analysis; industry structure and performance; income structure and growth; leading, slipping, gaining and lagging analysis; selected economic indicators, personal income by major source; full- and part-time employment; transfer payments; and BEA's regional facts.
For additional information about MS-REAP, contact Smith at 662-325-9242 or bsmith@cobilan.msstate.edu.