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| LABOR FORCE STATISTICS - Lamar County Labor Market Area
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AREA DEFINITION
Generally, a labor market area is defined as an economically integrated geographic area in which workers can change jobs without having to change their place of residence. In Texas, labor market areas have been designated as one or more county areas, and labor market statistics are not prepared on cities or any unit smaller than a full county. The Paris labor market area, therefore, consists of all of Lamar County.
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POPULATION AND LABOR FORCE
Lamar County has a population of 48,499 according to the 2000 census. Approximately 52.3 percent of the total is female (25,352), and 47.4 percent (23,147) are males. Paris has a population of 25,898 with some 21,201 persons in the Lamar County labor force. The labor force is the sum of the number of employed and unemployed persons who reside in the county. The total labor force in Lamar County is 22,592, with 1,962 who are unemployed. Expressed as a percent of the labor force, unemployment amount is 8.7 percent as of July 2003.
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LABOR SUPPLY
The city of Paris, being located almost exactly at the center of Lamar County, is ideally situated to draw workers from all of the area. Good all-weather highways and farm-to-market roads which lead into Paris from all sections of the county and the surrounding area provide easy access for commuters. Paris’ primary labor supply, which is made up of persons from within Lamar County, consists mainly of two groups – the unemployed and the potential new labor force entrants.
The most readily available source of labor in any area consists of the unemployed. These people are out of work, want to work, are usually actively seeking work, and quite often possess skills and training which would make them suitable for immediate employment in various industries. As of June 2003, Lamar County has 1,962 residents that would fall into this category. Experience has also shown that when a new employer locates in an area, there are considerable numbers of employed persons who are interested in securing employment with the new firm. These workers are often considered "underemployed" and may be working only part-time, temporarily, or in lower paying occupations. There are also several hundred potential new or re-entrants who are not currently in the labor force, but would be interested in working if suitable jobs were available.
Another large labor supply which could be tapped by Paris employers exists in the counties surrounding Lamar County. Lamar and the three surrounding Texas counties have a combined population of some 116,317 and it is estimated that there are nearly 2,996 residents of these areas who are either unemployed or are potential new labor force entrants. Since Texas workers have proved a willingness to commute considerable distance to jobs, a substantial part of these surrounding counties’ labor supplies must be considered as available for Lamar County employment. In addition, workers from several Oklahoma counties should also be considered as part of the Lamar County labor supply. So it could be reasonably assumed that a sizable supply of Oklahoma labor could be attracted to jobs in Paris. In summary, the four Texas counties which can be considered as the Paris labor supply area could offer new or expanding industry a total of 2,996 prospective employees from which to draw. Expanding industry in Texas has found the local work force easy to train and eager to learn.
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