In determining the overall contribution an organization has to its community, the number and quality of jobs provided seems like a sensible metric.

WIth this thought in mind, some small communities rely more heavily on public jobs. Thus, when public agencies make cuts to the workforce, those ripples are also felt throughout the community. I'm sure this has been studied more extensively. The holistic, systemic approach interests me. Simply, the number of jobs is an important variable when calculating community-level trends.