Glossary
- Adult Basic Education
- Education in basic reading and writing, offered either through community/technical colleges or through state workforce development agencies.
- Educational Attainment
- The highest level of school completed by a person or group.
- Exports
- Products or commodities sold to foreign individuals and firms (businesses).
- Foreign Direct Investment
- Expenditures (spending) by foreign-owned firms on plant and equipment in a region.
- Human Capital
- A measure of education and skill level, and (in some settings) health of residents and workers within a region.
- Imports
- Products or commodities purchased from foreign firms (businesses).
- Infrastructure
- Roads, railways, bridges and other transportation-related public goods.
- Logistics
- Transportation and warehousing industry groups that make it possible to move and store goods.
- Manufacturing
- The production of consumer durable and non-durable goods.
- Productivity
- The value of goods sold by a firm adjusted to a per-worker basis.
- R&D
- Research and development, both in primary and applied science, usually measured in dollars.
- Unemployment Insurance
- A federal program dating to 1933 that requires firms to participate in state-regulated insurance plans to compensate workers who are laid off or discharged from work.
- Value-Added
- Firm or industry measure of the value of the product sold, minus all input costs.
- Workers' Compensation
- A federal program dating to 1913 that requires firms to provide disability and death insurance through state-administered or regulated insurance plans.