November 27, 2001 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)

Most manufacturing employees work in larger establishments

About seven-tenths of workers in manufacturing are employed at establishments that have 100 employees or more.

[Chart data—TXT]

Establishments with at least 100 workers accounted for 69.5 percent of manufacturing employment in March 2000. The largest establishments—those with 1,000 or more workers—accounted for 19.8 percent of employees in manufacturing.

Only 1.4 percent of manufacturing employees were employed in establishments with fewer than 5 workers.

The BLS Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages program produced these data. Data presented here are for private-industry workers covered by State unemployment insurance programs. Data for 2000 are preliminary and subject to revision. Find more information on employment in 2000 in "Employment and Wages, Annual Averages, 2000," BLS Bulletin 2546.