January 13, 1999 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)
Production occupations have largest
employment share in 1997
Production occupations, including
construction, operating, maintenance, and material handling, accounted for the largest
share of employment during 1997. Employment in production occupations was 31.1
million, or 25.6 percent of the total.
[Chart data—TXT]
Four production occupations had employment greater than one million:
heavy truck drivers; assemblers and fabricators, except machine, electrical, electronic,
and precision; light truck drivers, including delivery and route workers; and general
utility maintenance repairers.
Professional occupations had the next largest share at 25.6 million or 21.0 percent,
followed by clerical occupations at 21.3 million or 17.5 percent. Within
professional, total employment of registered nurses stood at 2.0 million in 1997. Â
Two other occupations—teachers in elementary school and teachers in secondary
schools—topped one million in employment.
Within clerical, two occupations reported employment greater than two million: general
office clerks and secretaries, except legal and medical. Three other occupations had
employment levels greater than one million: bookkeeping, accounting, and auditing clerks;
first-line supervisors and managers/supervisors; and receptionists and information clerks.
Data on occupational employment and wages are produced by the BLS Occupational Employment Statistics
program. For additional information, see News Release USDL 98-502, "Occupational Employment and Wages, 1997."
Of interest
Spotlight on Statistics: National Hispanic Heritage Month
In this Spotlight, we take a look at the Hispanic labor force—including labor force participation, employment and unemployment, educational attainment, geographic location, country of birth, earnings, consumer expenditures, time use, workplace injuries, and employment projections.
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Read more »