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Using Wage Records to Study the Impact of Hurricane Katrina. Richard L. Clayton James R. Spletzer Bureau of Labor Statistics May 24, 2006 LMI Conference, St. Louis. Outline of Today’s Presentation. Brief overview of Hurricane Katrina Our data and methodology
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Using Wage Records to Study the Impact of Hurricane Katrina Richard L. Clayton James R. Spletzer Bureau of Labor Statistics May 24, 2006 LMI Conference, St. Louis
Outline of Today’s Presentation Brief overview of Hurricane Katrina Our data and methodology The effects of Hurricane Katrina using Louisiana and Texas wage records
Hurricane KatrinaNew Orleans Times Picayune August 29, 30, & 31
Hurricane Katrina The States and the BLS have done a lot to measure the impact of Hurricane Katrina on labor market outcomes Today’s presentation – what can wage records tell us about the labor market impacts of Hurricane Katrina?
Data and Methodology We obtained wage records from: Louisiana, 2004:Q1 – 2005:Q3 (2005:Q4 forthcoming) Texas, 2004:Q1 – 2005:Q4 We enhanced the wage records by merging in Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW) data
Data and Methodology Our methodology: > Look at quarterly transitions, within and across states > Compare 2005 transitions to 2004 transitions For example: look at number of persons who move from New Orleans to Texas in both 2004 and 2005
Data and Methodology Issues when using WRs for analysis: Transitions can not be timed within quarters Wage records only record employment, not unemployment or out of the labor force Wage records are filed for the UI account, not for the specific establishment
Data and Methodology For Louisiana (using WR & QCEW data) 62% of employment is in single establishments 11% of employment is in multi-establishment employers with all establishments in the same MSA (8 MSAs + BoS in Louisiana) 27% of employment is in multi-establishment employers with establishments in multiple counties
Number of Wage RecordsTexas New Orleans MSA
Number of UI Accounts with WRs Texas New Orleans MSA
The Effects of Hurricane Katrina # Wage Records and # UI Accounts Substantial decline in # wage records and # UI accounts in Louisiana in 2005:Q3 Percentage decline is 2½ times larger in New Orleans MSA than in Louisiana No similar decline in Louisiana in 2004:Q3 No similar decline in Texas in 2005:Q3
The Effects of Hurricane Katrina # Wage Records and # UI Accounts Need to ask: Is the substantial decline an economic effect, or is it due to administrative data reporting? Updated 2005:Q3 Louisiana wage records will incorporate data for late reporters, and thus mitigate administrative reporting issues
The Effects of Hurricane Katrina Cross-State Mobility Substantial increase in number of persons newly employed in Texas in 2005:Q3 > conditional on working in Louisiana in 2005:Q2 > conditional on not working in Texas in 2005:Q2 Even larger increase in number of persons newly employed in Texas in 2005:Q4 No similar increases in 2004, nor in cross-state mobility the other direction
The Effects of Hurricane Katrina Focus on 2 samples of cross-state mobility: N=1,608 persons moving from New Orleans MSA to Texas in 2004:Q3 (voluntary movers) N=5,648 persons moving from New Orleans MSA to Texas in 2005:Q3 (voluntary movers + displaced movers) Are these 2 samples different? > A rough estimate of displacement effects
The Effects of Hurricane Katrina Cross-State Mobility: Pre and Post Katrina Persons who moved from New Orleans MSA to Texas in 2004:Q3 (all pre-Katrina) gained, on average, $1750 in quarterly earnings Persons who moved from New Orleans MSA to Texas in 2005:Q3 (some post-Katrina) lost, on average, $553 in quarterly earnings Results consistent with “Displacement”
Summary: specific findings We have used 2004 & 2005 wage records (enhanced with QCEW) from LA & TX to study the effects of Hurricane Katrina > Many striking employment and wage effects > Much more empirical work to do We regard our results as preliminary until the 2005:Q4 and the updated 2005:Q3 Louisiana wage records become available
Summary: general findings The methodology we have used could be applied to analyzing any large displacement > Plant closing > Other natural disasters