May 30, 2001 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)

From watches to pianos: precision instrument and equipment repairers

Precision instrument and equipment repairers fix devices ranging from cameras and clocks to medical equipment and musical instruments.

[Chart data—TXT]

In 1998, median annual earnings of occupations in precision instrument and equipment repair varied from $21,580 for musical instrument repairers and tuners to $39,580 for other precision instrument and equipment repairers. (Workers who are in the "other precision instrument and equipment repairers" category service a wide range of equipment for automated or instrument-controlled manufacturing processes.)

The largest occupation in precision instrument and equipment repair in 1998 was the "other" category, with 33,000 jobs. Musical instrument repairers and tuners were next with 13,000 jobs, followed by medical equipment repairers (11,000), camera and photographic equipment repairers (9,000) and watch repairers (8,000).

These data are a product of the Occupational Employment Statistics program. Find out more in "Precision instrument and equipment repairers," by Ian Wyatt, Occupational Outlook Quarterly, Summer 2001.