This indicator compares employment and wages in natural resource industries, including fishing, shellfish aquaculture, agriculture, timber, and recreation and tourism, to the county totals in the region. The original indicator sought to examine the output of natural resource industries in Puget Sound relative to the total economic output. In the absence of GDP data, employment and wage data are presented to show how natural resource industries are supporting jobs and livelihoods in the region.

• Puget Sound natural resource industry employment as a percentage of total employment (across all counties and industries in the Puget Sound region), has remained fairly consistent between 2.8 percent and 3.1 percent, indicating no trend for the region overall (there was a noticeable increase in this percentage in 2010).
• Puget Sound natural resource industry wages as a percentage of total wages across all counties and industries in the Puget Sound region was on average 1.45 percent from 2005 to 2009 before slightly increasing to an average of 1.50 percent for 2010 through 2019. This indicator has also remained more or less consistent since 2010.
• Overall, the slight increases for the region (starting in 2010) are largely driven by growth in the recreation and tourism sector, but may also be due to industry recovery from the economic recession and growth in the aquaculture industry. In comparison, employment in the timber industry has held steady in recent years while fishing employment has been on a downward trend.
• There are differences among counties for natural resource industry employment as a percentage of total employment across all industries, ranging between a little over 1 percent and 3 percent in Thurston, King, and Snohomish counties, to over 14 percent in San Juan County (view map for details).
• There are similar differences between counties related to natural resource industry wages as a percentage of total wages across all industries, ranging from approximately 1 percent each in Thurston, King, and Snohomish counties to over 18 percent in San Juan County.
• Natural resource industries tend to be a higher percentage of wage and employment in smaller, more rural counties, and counties that have historically relied on the recreation, timber, and agriculture industries.
• Natural resource industry wages as a percent of total wages in Puget Sound tend to be lower than employment when compared to total employment. This implies that natural resource industry jobs are still lower paying relative to other sectors.
• Reporting employment and wage data instead of GDP data shifts the focus more directly toward people and how these industries support jobs and livelihoods in the Puget Sound region. Obtaining GDP data at the time of this indicator update at the desired scale was not feasible, so the percent of employment and wages in natural resource industries out of all industries was identified as a relevant substitute indicator. It should tell a similar story to GDP data that natural resource industries are a relatively small, but consistent, portion of the overall Puget Sound regional economy and that the contribution of these industries varies by county.