Department of Labor Logo United States Department of Labor
Dot gov

The .gov means it's official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you're on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Production occupations have largest employment share in 1997

January 13, 1999

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.

Employment share by major occupational division, 1997
[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. 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."

SUGGESTED CITATION

Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, The Economics Daily, Production occupations have largest employment share in 1997 at https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/1999/jan/wk2/art03.htm (visited October 31, 2024).

OF INTEREST
spotlight
Recent editions of Spotlight on Statistics


triangle