February 25, 2004 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)

Occupations with the largest job decline, 2002-12

Farmers and ranchers are projected to have the largest loss in employment between 2002 and 2012. The number of farmers and ranchers will decline as market pressures cause farm consolidation and agricultural technology improves.

[Chart data—TXT]

Employment in the textile and apparel industries will decline, due to greater imports—as import quotas are lifted—and to improved production technology. This in turn will cause employment of sewing machine operators to fall.

Advances in computer, optical scanning, and voice recognition technologies and growth in electronic business will reduce demand for word processors and typists; stock clerks and order fillers; secretaries, except legal, medical, and executive; telephone operators; postal service mail sorters, processors, and processing machine operators; loan interviewers and clerks; data entry keyers; order clerks; and other office and administrative support occupations.

These data are produced by the Employment Projections program. For more information, see "Occupational employment projections to 2012," by Daniel E. Hecker, Monthly Labor Review, February 2004.