Percent of textile employment, Southeastern States and 

rest of the United States, 1997

Florida Rest of U.S

Georgia

Kentucky

Tennessee

Alabama

South Carolina

Mississippi

North Carolina

0.7% 28.8%

17.4%

1.2%

3.0%

6.5%

12.9%

0.7%

28.8%

Issues

The Southeast is Maintaining Its Share of Textile Plant Employment

The Southeast1 employs more

textile workers than all other

regions in the United States

combined. About 50 years ago less

than half of the industry’s workforce

was in the Southeast. By 1967, over

70 percent of the Nation’s textile workers were employed there, a proportion

that has held steady since then.

Southeastern textile plants employed 438,300 workers, on average,

in 1997 (see table). North Carolina

dominated the industry with 29 percent of total U.S. textile industry employment—as much as the combined

textile employment of all States outside the Southeast region.

Despite the constancy in the share

of textile employment in the Southeast

over the past three decades, average

employment declined from 1996 to

1997 by 12,400, or about 3 percent

reflecting, perhaps, the continued

movement of jobs to lower wage areas. North Carolina recorded the largest numerical decrease, 7,400 jobs,

while Mississippi showed the largest

numerical increase, 400 jobs. Kentucky had the largest percent decrease,

11 percent. Georgia, South Carolina,

and Tennessee also recorded decreases

over the year. Mississippi’s employment increased 10 percent, while textile employment in Alabama remained

stable.

Historically, earnings for textile

workers in the Southeast have lagged

behind the industry's national average.

In 1997, their average hourly earnings

in the Southeast rose 2.5 percent to

$9.86, whereas the U.S. average increased 3.5 percent to $10.03. The average hourly earnings in the Southeast

were 98 percent of national hourly

rates. Textile plant employees in the

Southeast worked an average of 41.5

hours per week in 1997, an increase

of 1.5 percent over 1996. In comparison, average weekly hours for all U.S.

textile workers rose 2.0 percent to

41.4. Florida reported average weekly

hours of 42.9, the highest in the Southeast. Kentucky had the largest increase in average weekly hours, rising 4.3 percent.

In 1997, average weekly earnings

in the textile industry rose faster nationally than in the Southeast, resulting from faster growth for both average hourly earnings and average

weekly hours. Southeast average

weekly earnings rose 4.0 percent to

$409.19, while nationally textile industry earnings grew 5.5 percent to

$415.24. Florida continued to have the

highest earnings in the Southeast.

Both hourly earnings and weekly

hours in Florida grew in 1997, resulting in weekly earnings of $526.81.

Among the southeastern States, Kentucky with wages traditionally below

1

 The Southeast includes Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, South

Carolina, and Tennessee.

U.S. Department of Labor

Bureau of Labor Statistics

Summary 99-2 February 1999

in Labor Statistics
the national average, continued to

record the lowest average weekly earnings at $384.40, despite increasing

11.6 percent in 1997.

Although the Southeast continues

to maintain a large share of textile employment, the relative importance of

the textile industry to the Southeast’s

total manufacturing employment has

declined. From 1979 through 1997,

manufacturing employment in the

Southeast increased by 2.8 percent

while textile employment declined by

27.9 percent. As a result, textile employment as a percent of overall manufacturing employment in the Southeast

has dropped from 17 percent in 1979

to 12 percent in 1997.

Technical Notes

All data in this release are adjusted to

the first quarter 1997 benchmark levels, and, therefore, are not comparable

with data previously published. The

data were compiled by State employment security agencies in cooperation

with the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

They relate to the total number of fulland part-time textile workers in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky,

Mississippi, North Carolina, South

Carolina, and Tennessee. Data are

based on the 1987 Standard Industrial

Classification Manual. A brief technical description of statistics based on

establishment records is presented in

the explanatory notes of the monthly

periodical, Employment and Earnings,

a publication of the Bureau of Labor

Statistics.

For additional information on employment trends in the Southeast, contact the BLS Atlanta Regional Office

at (404) 331-3415. Employment information on southeastern States is regularly updated on the Atlanta Regional

Office Internet site, http://stats.bls.

gov/ro4home.htm.

Material in this report is in the public domain and, with appropriate

credit, may be reproduced without permission. This information is available

to sensory impaired individuals upon

request. Voice phone: (202) 606-7828;

Federal Relay Service: 1-800-877-

8339.

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Southeast textile employment, hours, and earnings, 1997

Area Employment

(in thousands)

Hourly

earnings

Weekly

hours

Weekly

earnings

United States 615.5 $10.03 41.4 $415.24

 Southeast 438.3 9.86 41.5 409.19

 Alabama 39.9 9.73 42.3 411.58

 Florida 4.4 12.28 42.9 526.81

 Georgia 107.3 10.16 42.1 427.74

 Kentucky 7.6 9.33 41.2 384.40

 Mississippi 4.6 9.50 42.0 399.00

 North Carolina 177.0 9.76 41.1 401.14

 South Carolina 79.1 9.79 41.1 402.37

 Tennessee 18.4 9.59 41.7 399.90