August 12, 1999 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)
Agriculture employment most
widespread by far in West North Central States
In 1997, the States in the West
North Central area had the highest proportion of employed persons working in farming,
forestry, and fishing occupations. More than one in 20 employed persons in the West North
Central area worked in these occupations.
![Percent of employed persons working in farming, forestry, and fishing, by area, 1997](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20120925030229im_/http://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/images/1999/Aug/wk2/art04.gif)
[Chart data—TXT]
In other areas in the western part of the country, about
one in 30 employed persons were in agricultural occupations. In the Pacific area, 3.5
percent had jobs in farming, forestry, and fishing, while in the Mountain area and West
South Central areas, the percentages were 3.4 percent and 3.3 percent, respectively. These
proportions were all well below the 5.6-percent figure for workers in West North Central
States.
In the Northeastern region of the country, workers were least likely to work in
farming, forestry, and fishing occupations. Only 1.7 percent of workers in New England and
1.4 percent in the Middle Atlantic were in agricultural occupations.
These data on employment are a product of the Current
Population Survey. The data refer to the primary jobs of employed persons. Additional
information is available from Geographic Profile of Employment and
Unemployment, 1997 (PDF,
966K), (BLS Bulletin 2515). West North Central States
include Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, and South Dakota.
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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