November 28, 2001 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)

Retail employment and establishment size

About half of retail workers are employed at establishments with fewer than 50 employees.

Distribution of retail workers by size of establishment, March 2000
[Chart data—TXT]

Establishments with 49 or fewer workers accounted for 53 percent of retail employment in March 2000. Of the categories shown in the chart, retailers with 20 to 49 workers employed the highest proportion of the retailing workforce, with 23.9 percent of the total.

Only 2.5 percent of retail employees were in establishments with 1000 or more 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.

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