SOUTHEASTERN REGIONAL OFFICE FOR RELEASE: IMMEDIATE 

61 FORSYTH STREET, SW, JUNE 8, 2004 

ATLANTA, GEORGIA 30303-3104 

TELEPHONE: 404-331-3415 

Media Contact: Michael Wald 

 (404) 331-3446 

Internet address: http://www.bls.gov/ro4/home.htm 

Fax on Demand: (404) 331-3403 

Request Document No. 9305 

TEXTILE MILLS EMPLOYMENT: MARCH 2004 

 Textile mills employment declined by 36,700 in the United States from March 2003 to 

March 2004, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor. 

Regional Commissioner Janet S. Rankin noted that the over-the-year industry decline was 

greater than in March 2003 (-22,400) but below the loss recorded in March 2002 (-55,100). (See 

chart A.) Employment in textile mills stood at 237,900 in March 2004, down 13.4 percent from 

the year before. Since March 1999, industry employment has declined more than 40 percent 

(-165,400 jobs). (All data are not seasonally adjusted; accordingly, over-the-year analysis is 

used throughout the release.) 

Chart A. Textile mills employment in the United States, over-the-year net change 

 

-60

-50

-40

-30

-20

-10

0

 Mar

2000

 Mar

2001

Mar

2002

Mar

2003

 Mar

2004 In thousands

 Mar

1999
Textile mills employment by state

 

The seven states1 reporting employment in textile mills accounted for two-thirds of the 

industry in March 2004. Two of these -- North Carolina and South Carolina -- employed over 40 

percent of the workers in this industry. The majority of the "textile" states were clustered in the 

South2 region. Only Massachusetts in the Northeast and California in the West fell outside of 

this grouping. Regardless of the geographic location, all states recorded losses over the year, 

although the magnitude of the declines varied by state. Five of the seven states lost fewer than 

2,000 jobs and three of these -- California, Massachusetts, and Tennessee -- lost less than 1,000 

jobs since last year. The declines were steeper in North and South Carolina, as South Carolina's 

employment declined by 3,900 jobs, while employment in North Carolina dropped by 13,100. 

North Carolina, which is home to over one-quarter of all textile mills jobs in the nation, 

accounted for one-third of the industry's decline. (See table A.) 

Table A. Textile mills employment in the United States and selected states— 

(Numbers in thousands) 

March 2003 – 

March 2004 Area March 2003 March 2004 

Net 

change 

Percent 

change 

United States 274.6 237.9 -36.7 -13.4 

 Alabama 14.9 13.4 -1.5 -10.1 

 California 13.5 12.9 -0.6 -4.4 

 Massachusetts 10.4 9.8 -0.6 -5.8 

 North Carolina 77.5 64.4 -13.1 -16.9 

 South Carolina 42.0 38.1 -3.9 -9.3 

 Tennessee 7.6 7.0 -0.6 -7.9 

 Virginia 14.7 13.0 -1.7 -11.6 

Over the year, the only state with a percentage loss greater than the 13.4 percent recorded 

nationally was North Carolina, down 16.9 percent in March 2004, more than double the 6.5 

percent loss recorded the previous year. Other states with double digit declines included 

Virginia (-11.6 percent) and Alabama (-10.1 percent). Employment in California decreased 4.4 

percent, the smallest over-the-year percentage loss among the seven states. 

Technical Note 

The nonfarm payroll series for states and metropolitan areas produced from the Current Employment 

Statistics (CES) program have been converted from a 1987 Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) system basis to a 

2002 North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) basis. NAICS is the product of a cooperative effort 

on the part of the statistical agencies of the United States, Canada, and Mexico. NAICS uses a production-oriented 

approach to categorize economic units. Units with similar production processes are classified in the same industry. 

NAICS focuses on how products and services are created, as opposed to the SIC focus on what is produced. This 

approach yields significantly different industry groupings than those produced by the SIC approach. Consequently, 

 

1

 States reporting employment in textile mills include Alabama, California, Massachusetts, North Carolina, South 

Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia. Georgia no longer reports employment in textile mills. 

2

 There are four geographic regions in the United States as defined by the U.S. Census Bureau: Northeast, South, 

Midwest, and West. 
the NAICS-based data by industry are not comparable with the previously published SIC-based data; SIC-based data 

series are no longer being produced or published. See http://www.bls.gov/sae/saenaics.htm for complete 

information on the conversion of the CES state and area data to NAICS and http://www.bls.gov/sae/saewhatis.htm

for an overview of NAICS classification and its differences from the SIC system. All state nonfarm payroll 

employment estimates have a NAICS-based history extending back to January 1990, except for total nonfarm 

employment estimates which have retained their beginning date. 

Definitions. Employment data refer to persons on establishment payrolls who receive pay for any part of the pay 

period that includes the 12th of the month. Persons are counted at their place of work rather than at their place of 

residence; those appearing on more than one payroll are counted on each payroll. Industries are classified on the 

basis of their principal activity in accordance with the 2002 version of the North American Industry Classification 

System. 

Average weekly hours and average hourly earnings. With the publication of the January 2003 data, average 

weekly hours and average hourly earnings are no longer available for the textile mills industry for some states due to 

changes in sample requirements. 

Method of estimation. The employment data are estimated using a "link relative" technique in which a ratio (link 

relative) of current-month employment to that of the previous month is computed from a sample of establishments 

reporting for both months. The estimates of employment for the current month are obtained by multiplying the 

estimates for the previous month by these ratios. 

Annual revisions. Employment estimates are adjusted annually to a complete count of jobs, called benchmarks, 

derived principally from tax reports which are submitted by employers who are covered under state unemployment 

insurance (UI) laws. The benchmark information is used to adjust the monthly estimates between the new 

benchmark and the preceding one and also to establish the level of employment for the new benchmark month. 

Thus, the benchmarking process establishes the level of employment, and the sample is used to measure the monthto-month changes in the level for the subsequent months. 

Caution on aggregating state data. State estimation procedures are designed to produce accurate data for each 

individual state. BLS independently develops a national employment series; state estimates are not forced to sum to 

national totals. Because each state series is subject to larger sampling and nonsampling errors than the national 

series, summing them cumulates individual state level errors and can cause significant distortions at an aggregate 

level. Due to these statistical limitations, BLS does not compile a "sum-of-states" employment series, and cautions 

users that such a series is subject to a relatively large and volatile error structure. 

Reliability of the estimates. The estimates presented in this release are based on sample survey and administrative 

data and thus are subject to sampling and other types of errors. Sampling error is a measure of sampling variability--

that is, variation that occurs by chance because a sample rather than the entire population is surveyed. Survey data 

also are subject to nonsampling errors, such as those that can be introduced into the data collection and processing 

operations. Estimates not directly derived from sample surveys are subject to additional errors resulting from the 

special estimation processes used. The sums of individual items may not always equal the totals shown in the same 

tables because of rounding. 
Additional information 

More complete information on the technical procedures used to develop these estimates and additional data 

appear in Employment and Earnings, which is available by subscription for $50.00 a year from the Superintendent 

of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, DC 20402 (telephone 202-512-1800), and from the 

BLS Handbook of Methods, Bulletin 2490, August 1997. Employment data from the CES program are available at 

http://www.bls.gov/sae/. Employment data and other information on states in the Southeast are available on the 

Southeast regional Internet page (http://www.bls.gov/ro4/home.htm) and on the Southeast fax-on-demand system at 

(404) 331-3403. Additional questions can be directed to the Southeast BLS information office in Atlanta by e-mail 

at BLSinfoAtlanta@bls.gov or by dialing (404) 331-3415. Customers in the Miami area can reach the office by 

dialing (305) 358-2305. Information in this release will be made available to sensory impaired individuals upon 

request. Voice phone: 202-691-5200; TDD message referral phone: 1-800-877-8339. 

Data may also be obtained from the following cooperative state agencies. 

Agency Telephone

Alabama Department of Industrial Relations 334-242-8859 

California Employment Development Department 916-262-2160 

Massachusetts Division of Employment and 

 Training 617-626-6556 

North Carolina Employment Security Commission 919-733-2936 

South Carolina Employment Security Division 803-737-2660 

Tennessee Department of Labor and 

 Workforce Development 615-741-2284 

Virginia Employment Commission 804-786-7496 

 
Table 1. Textile plant employment for the United States and selected states 2002-2003, not 

seasonally adjusted 

 

(Numbers in thousands) 

2002 2003 

Area Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar 

United States 283.6 281.7 278.8 277.6 275.3 274.6 

 Alabama 15.7 15.6 15.4 15.0 15.1 14.9 

 California 14.5 13.9 13.8 13.4 13.4 13.5 

 Massachusetts 10.7 10.5 10.5 10.4 10.4 10.4 

 North Carolina 79.5 78.8 77.6 78.0 77.6 77.5 

 South Carolina 43.9 43.4 43.1 42.4 42.0 42.0 

 Tennessee 8.3 8.1 8.0 7.7 7.6 7.6 

 Virginia 14.7 14.8 14.8 14.7 14.7 14.7 

2003 

Area April May June July Aug Sept 

United States 271.6 267.2 266.6 255.3 252.5 251.8 

 Alabama 14.7 14.5 14.1 14.1 13.8 13.5 

 California 13.2 13.1 13.0 12.9 12.8 12.8 

 Massachusetts 10.2 10.1 10.0 9.9 9.8 9.8 

 North Carolina 76.5 75.2 74.1 70.5 68.8 68.1 

 South Carolina 41.4 41.3 39.7 39.6 39.3 39.3 

 Tennessee 7.6 7.6 7.5 7.5 7.5 7.4 

 Virginia 14.6 14.0 13.9 13.5 13.6 13.6 

2003 2004 

Area Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar (p) 

United States 246.4 244.4 239.7 237.5 235.2 237.9 

 Alabama 13.2 13.3 13.0 12.9 13.3 13.4 

 California 12.8 12.7 12.6 12.3 12.6 12.9 

 Massachusetts 9.7 9.6 9.7 9.6 9.7 9.8 

 North Carolina 66.4 66.2 65.1 65.1 64.5 64.4 

 South Carolina 39.5 39.2 38.6 38.2 37.6 38.1 

 Tennessee 7.4 7.2 7.2 7.1 7.0 7.0 

 Virginia 13.2 13.1 12.6 13.1 13.0 13.0 

(p) United States data are preliminary.