How do the population estimates differ from the Virginia Employment Commission’s population projections?
Estimates and projections are really two different animals. Estimates refer to the present or the recent past. Projections look to the future. Estimates are usually more accurate than projections because they are based on real rather than extrapolated data. Even for the Cooper Center’s provisional population estimates, the input data are only extrapolated for a year, while projections commonly deal with periods of 5, 10, or even 20 years into the future.
