March 18, 1999 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)
Southeast region employs
the most textile workers
In 1997, textile plants in the Southeast
region of the United States had 438,300 employees, or more than 70 percent of the
Nation’s textile workers. North Carolina dominated the industry with 29 percent of
total U.S. textile employment—as much as the combined textile employment of all
States outside the Southeast region. Georgia and South Carolina also had large textile
employment shares.
[Chart data—TXT]
Despite the large number of textile workers in the Southeast, the
industry’s employment declined 12,400 in the region, or about 3 percent, from 1996 to
1997. National employment in the textile industry fell 1.8 percent, from 627,000 to
616,000. The employment declines reflect, perhaps, the continued movement of jobs
to lower wage areas.
Within the Southeast region, Kentucky had the largest percent decrease at 11 percent,
and decreases also occurred in Georgia, South Carolina, and Tennessee. Mississippi’s
textile employment increased 10 percent over the year.
These data are products of the Current
Employment Statistics program. Obtain more information from "Issues in Labor Statistics: The Southeast
is Maintaining its Share of Textile Plant Employment," Summary 99-2.
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 »