ABSTRACT
This chapter represents the beginning of a project to integrate data and findings on the spatial, economic, and other determinants of the changing population, labour force, and economic shifts in the United States from 1970 to 2012. It explains the relationship between economic and demographic change and demonstrates the valuable utility of using such data sources together. The dependent variables for each decade were the total growth in population and the total growth in employment since the first year in the decade. The overall models clearly indicate that at least a large fraction of population change is related to employment change. Consideration of the various components of population change could reveal that this relationship is even stronger. However, this analysis suggests that a main driver of population growth is economic growth, which leads to employment. The model predicting employment included the change in population during the decade.
