Employment and income stability
Employment and income stability measures job market resilience with unemployment rates, volatility, labor force participation, median earnings, and industry concentration. More volatility means less predictable pay and higher income shocks.
Why it matters
Lower stability can mean more missed bills, less savings, and heavier reliance on credit during downturns.
Common questions
- What is the unemployment rate and how volatile is it?
- Are labor force participation and employment rates strong?
- Are earnings rising year over year?
- Is the local economy concentrated in a few industries?
Example signals
- Unemployment rate
- Unemployment volatility (monthly)
- Labor force participation
- Employment-to-population rate
- Median earnings (full-time, year-round)
- Earnings trend (YoY)
- Industry concentration (HHI)
How this risk is used
This risk contributes to Financial Risk Score v1 as a location-level signal. Scores remain relative, explainable, and comparable across geographies.
FinancialRiskIQ does not provide personal financial advice or predictions.
Key sources
- BLS Local Area Unemployment Statistics
- U.S. Census Bureau ACS 5-year
- County Business Patterns (industry concentration)
FAQs
What is unemployment volatility?
It captures month-to-month swings in unemployment, which signal how stable local hiring conditions are.
Why does industry concentration matter?
Heavy reliance on a small number of industries makes local incomes more sensitive to sector shocks.
Why include labor force participation?
It reflects how many adults are engaged in the workforce beyond the unemployment rate alone.
Related risks
View all risks →Household financial stress
Household financial stress reflects how close households are to the edge. It blends income, poverty exposure, housing cost burden, and safety-net reliance to show where families have less cushion for unexpected bills.
Debt and credit pressure
Debt and credit pressure tracks how leveraged households are and how often credit stress shows up. Higher subprime share, delinquency, and revolving utilization indicate tighter credit access and greater reliance on borrowing.
Cost of living exposure
Cost of living exposure focuses on housing costs relative to income. Rising rents, higher monthly housing costs, and elevated rent-to-income ratios can squeeze budgets even when incomes rise.