Jobs

Multiplier

Also called job multiplier, economic multiplier.

A multiplier is the ratio an input-output model applies to an initial change in a project's spending, earnings or jobs to estimate the total change in output, value added, earnings or jobs in a chosen industry and region.

What it decides

Neither the statute nor USCIS names a model: 8 U.S.C. 1153(b)(5)(E)(v)(I) requires only that the methodology be economically and statistically valid, and 8 U.S.C. 1153(b)(5)(F)(i)(II) requires the same of the economic analysis a regional center files with Form I-956F. BEA's RIMS II, one common source, publishes final-demand employment multipliers, which give total jobs per $1 million change in final demand, and direct-effect employment multipliers, which give total jobs per one job in the final-demand industry; the two take different inputs and are not interchangeable. RIMS II employment multipliers are not measured in full-time equivalents, so a job the model reports is not yet a qualifying full-time job. USCIS reviews whether the multipliers and the geographic assumptions are reasonable, weighing the area's demographic structure, its contribution to the project's supply chains and its socioeconomic connectivity. A wider region generally carries a larger multiplier, so where the boundary is drawn moves the job total.

Governed by 8 U.S.C. 1153(b)(5)(E)(v)(I) and 1153(b)(5)(F)(i)(II); 8 CFR 204.6(j)(4)(iii) and 8 CFR 204.6(m)(3)(v); 6 USCIS-PM G.2(D)(5) (https://www.uscis.gov/policy-manual/volume-6-part-g-chapter-2); BEA RIMS II User's Guide (December 2013), tables 3.1 and 3.2 (https://apps.bea.gov/regional/pdf/rims/rimsii_user_guide.pdf)

Where this is explained properly

Pages here that go into multiplier rather than mentioning it.

Related terms

RIMS IIRIMS II is the Bureau of Economic Analysis multiplier set that estimates how much total output, value added, earnings and employment a given change in final demand generates in a chosen group of US counties, and it is the model behind many EB-5 regional center job studies.
Input-output modelAn input-output model is an accounting framework of interindustry purchases that estimates how spending on a project spreads into output and jobs across a regional economy. In EB-5 it is the standard way a regional center investor shows job creation, and it produces estimated jobs rather than a verified headcount.
NAICS codeA NAICS code is the North American Industry Classification System identifier for an industry, six digits at its most detailed level, and in EB-5 it fixes which input-output multipliers a job study applies to a project's spending and revenue.
Economic impact reportAn economic impact report is the economist's analysis that turns a project's spending, revenues or direct hiring into an estimated job total, and the project application a regional center files for each investment offering must include one. The statute and USCIS call it a credible economic analysis.

Checked against primary sources on 6 August 2026. Back to the glossary