How to use this tool

The interactive bubble chart is a tool that can be used to explore the Chicago MSA's Green Economy industries. The following is a guide for how to read and use the chart. Firstly, the color of the bubble represents what Green Economy subcategory the industry is in: Energy Efficiency, Clean Energy Production, or Environmental Management. The size of each bubble on the chart is relative to the number of jobs in that industry; the larger the bubble, the higher number of jobs in that industry. The x-axis represents the percentage change in number of jobs between 2011 and 2020. The farther right a bubble falls on the x-axis, the more that industry has grown. This does not necessarily mean that this industry has more jobs than another industry, simply that relative to 2011, its 2020 employment total has grown at a greater rate. Conversely, bubbles on the left side of the graph represent industries that have lost jobs since 2011. Finally, the y-axis represents an industry's location quotient, or the concentration of jobs within a specific local industry as compared to the United States as a whole. A location quotient above one means that there is local specialization in that industry, whereas a location quotient below one means that that industry is considered weak.

On a higher level, as detailed in the report, we can track the industries by what quadrant they fall into. The upper-right quadrant holds industries that are Strong & Advancing; in other words, these industries have both a location quotient above one and a positive percent change in employment since 2011. The lower-right quadrant holds industries that are Weak but Advancing; in other words, these industries have a location quotient below one, but have shown positive growth in employment since 2011. The lower-left quadrant holds industries that are Weak and Declining; in other words, these industries have both a location quotient below one and have shown negative growth in employment since 2011. Finally, the upper-left quadrant holds industries that are Strong but Declining; in other words, these industries have a location quotient above one but have shown negative growth in employment since 2011.

By hovering over any bubble on this interactive chart, the user can see the pertinent details for any particular industry: industry name, industry subcategory, number of jobs, location quotient, and percent change in employment since 2011. By double-clicking on a subcategory in the chart legend, the user can isolate that specific subcategory and view only the industries within that subcategory. Clicking once on any category allows the user to turn on or off a single subcategory and view any number at the same time. Clicking and dragging allows the user to draw a box around specific bubbles and zoom in on them to see them more closely. Once zoomed in, the user can double click to return to the original view. Additionally, the user can use the tools in the upper-right corner to zoom, pan, and scale as needed. Finally, it is important to note that zooming out shows the user two industries that have grown at extremely high rates since 2011.