Monitoring Montana through BEA data.

• Author: Joyner, Amy
• Position: Bureau of Economic Analysis

Business people, government officials, and community development planners are but a few of Montana's leaders who must use accurate and current information to complete their daily tasks.

"What data is out there, and how do I access it?" asked Gary W. Smith, emeritus faculty from Washington State University. Smith and other economists answered that question during a daylong Bureau seminar earlier this summer.

While navigating the day's events, Smith was joined by Rob Brown from the Washington, D.C., office of the Bureau of Economic Analysis. They discussed the BEA data and showcased their interactive Web site (www.pnreap.org) on a large classroom screen while the attendees worked hands-on at their own computer workstations.

As author and project developer, Smith began the seminar by explaining the origins and transitions of the information used by the Pacific Northwest Regional Economic Analysis Project Web site. He launched the first rendition of the Web site in 1997 when he was on the faculty as an extension economist at Washington State University. Smith's research provides statistical information needs of key users of economic data in the Northwest.

"We show GDP over 40 years and 60 industries using current and consistent dollars," he said.

He explained that current doesn't mean immediate, however. Metropolitan data are entered into the Web site roughly nine months after year's end. County data come in closer to 16 months after the reference year.

That said, Smith still insisted the entries are the most accurate data. "The U.S. government uses the data to distribute tax dollars.... States use them to develop state government revenue distributions."

"Why so long?" asked fellow presenter Rob Brown as he took center stage. "It's a challenging task to measure who we are, where we do it, and how we do it. There's a lot of scholarship involved."

Brown is Chief of the Bureau of Economic Analysis' Regional Economic Measurement Division. He oversees the gathering of information that helps guide and improve the timeliness and quality of the state and local area personal income estimates.

"BEA's regional data is absolutely crucial for forecasting," Brown added. "It's really good scholarship, and that's why states use the data." He noted that Montana's Indian reservations are included in local government statistics for the state.

He spoke about earned income, property income, and transfer payments, which is money coming into Montana from another...