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Economic Base Analysis This section examines employment data for Pleasanton, providing an overview of Pleasanton's economic base and key industrial sectors in the local economy. Methodology The economic base analysis summarized in this report relies primarily on the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW), or ES202, program. The ES202 data are the most complete universe of monthly employment and quarterly wage infonnation by detailed industry at the national. state, county, and local levels. Analysis of these data enables comparisons among different industry sectors, as well as comparisons of growth or decline over time. The data are derived from the quarterly tax reports submitted to the California Employment Development Department (EDD) by California employers subject to State unemployment insurance (UI) laws, and from Federal agencies subject to the Unemployment Compensation for Federal Employees (UCFE) program. Each quarter, EDD edits and processes the data and sends the infonnation to Bureau of Labor Statistics in Washington, DC. The Bureau of Economic Analysis of the Department of Commerce uses ES202 data as a base for developing the wage and salary component of personal income. This measure and other applications of ES202 data are widely used in determining Federal allocation of program grants to State and local governments. ES202 data are also used by businesses and by public and private research organizations as one of the best sources of detailed employment and wage statistics for economic forecasting, industry and regional analysis, impact studies, and other uses. Despite its broad application, it is important to note that the ES202 data set has some limitations. First, it excludes any independent contractors or employers that do not pay unemployment insurance. For example, a sole practitioner architect without any employees would not be identified through this dataset. In general, however. these cases represent a relatively small portion of an area's overall economic base. As a second limitation, the dataset is driven by the employer's location and zip code. The dataset used for this analysis only includes employers with a physical address in the 94566 and 94588 zip codes, which roughly corresponds with the City's boundaries.' Therefore, a Livennore-based building contractor with a crew working in Pleasanton, for example, would not appear in this dataset. Third, the data relies on self-reporting by employers, and firms often do not list a physical address, despite having an establishment in a particular city. For example, the EDD states that when the total employment in an employer's secondary offices (all offices other than the , Mailing address, as opposed to physical address, cannot be used to identify Pleasanton employers, as many firms maintain mailing addresses outside the City, despite having an office in Pleasanton. Pleasanton Economic Development Background Report RNAL - January 2006 20