July 2009 

Occupational Employment 

Statistics (OES) Highlights

Area focus — Elkhart-Goshen, IN 

At 17.5 percent, the May 2009 unemployment rate in Elkhart-Goshen, IN, was one of 

the highest in the United States, nearly twice the national unemployment rate of 9.1 

percent.1

 Elkhart-Goshen also had one of the largest over-the-year increases in its 

unemployment rate of any metropolitan area, with the jobless rate rising by 11.4 

percentage points between May 2008 and May 2009. An area’s economic structure, 

including industry and occupation mix, is one of many factors that can affect local 

unemployment. This highlight looks at the occupational composition of ElkhartGoshen in May 2008, focusing on comparisons between the U.S. and local 

employment patterns in the period preceding the unemployment increase. 

Chart 1: Employment Distribution in Elkhart‐Goshen, IN, and the United

States by Major Occupational Group, May 2008

0.0

5.0

10.0

15.0

20.0

25.0

30.0

35.0

Management

Business and financial operations

Computer and mathematical science

Architecture and engineering

Life, physical, and social science

Community and social services

Legal

Education, training, and library

Arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media

Healthcare practitioner and technical

Healthcare support

Protective service

Food preparation and serving related

Building and grounds cleaning and maintenance

Personal care and service

Sales and related

Office and administrative support

Farming, fishing, and forestry

Construction and extraction

Installation, maintenance, and repair

Production

Transportation and material moving

Percent of total employment

Elkhart‐Goshen, IN United States
2

(See page 6 to view these data in table format.) 

Chart 1 shows the distribution of employment by occupational major group in 

Elkhart-Goshen and the United States. The most notable feature of Elkhart-Goshen’s 

occupational employment pattern is the extremely high percentage of production 

jobs. Over one-third (34 percent) of area employment was in production 

occupations; this was approximately 4.7 times the national employment share for 

this group, making Elkhart-Goshen the metropolitan area with the highest 

percentage of production occupations in the country. Other areas with high shares of 

production occupations included Dalton, GA (28 percent); Morristown, TN (23 

percent); Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton, NC (22 percent); and Columbus, IN (20 

percent). 

Workers in production occupations typically perform duties that are directly 

associated with manufacturing processes. Manufacturing industries accounted for 

over half (52 percent) of private sector employment in Elkhart-Goshen in May 2008, 

more than four times the national employment share in manufacturing of 12 percent. 

Aside from production occupations, only one other occupational group had an aboveaverage employment share in Elkhart-Goshen: transportation and material moving 

occupations, which made up about 8.4 percent of local employment compared with 

7.0 percent of national employment. Elkhart-Goshen had lower employment shares 

than the nation of all the remaining groups except construction and extraction 

occupations and installation, maintenance, and repair occupations, which had 

employment shares similar to the national average. 

Computer and mathematical science occupations made up 2.4 percent of national 

employment, more than 4 times Elkhart-Goshen’s employment share of 0.6 percent 

for this group, while life, physical, and social science occupations had a national 

employment share of 1.0 percent, more than 3 times the local employment share for 

this group. Business and financial operations; community and social services; legal; 

arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media; healthcare support; protective 

service; personal care and service; and farming, fishing, and forestry occupations 

also had national employment shares that were two or more times the corresponding 

employment shares in Elkhart-Goshen. 
3

Chart 2a shows detailed occupations for which Elkhart-Goshen had especially high 

employment concentrations relative to the U.S. average. Given the high share of 

production occupations in area employment, it is not surprising that all of the 

occupations shown in the chart are from the production group, with the exception of 

recreational vehicle service technicians from the installation, maintenance, and repair 

group. In addition to having employment shares above the U.S. average, ElkhartGoshen had among the highest employment shares of any metropolitan area for all 

of the occupations shown in Chart 2a. 

Chart 2a: Compared to the United States, Elkhart‐Goshen, IN,

has higher shares of....

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45

Production workers, all other

Structural metal fabricators and fitters

Cutting and slicing machine setters, operators, and

tenders

Painters, transportation equipment

Cutters and trimmers, hand

Team assemblers

Upholsterers

Cementing and gluing machine operators and tenders

Recreational vehicle service technicians

Fiberglass laminators and fabricators

Ratio of occupation's employment share in Elkhart‐Goshen, IN, to employment share in United States

(See page 7 to view these data in table format.) 

With the exception of team assemblers and production workers, all other, which had 

local employment of 13,850 and 2,450, respectively, most of these occupations were 

relatively small in absolute terms, with local employment of less than 1,000 each. 

However, all of the occupations shown made up a much higher share of ElkhartGoshen’s employment than of national employment. For example, the share of 

fiberglass laminators and fabricators in local employment was 40 times the share of 

this occupation in national employment, while the local employment share of 
4

recreational vehicle service technicians was 23 times the corresponding national 

employment share. 

    Chart 2b:              ...and lower shares of:

0 0.02 0.04 0.06 0.08 0.1 0.12 0.14 0.16

Computer software engineers, systems software

Claims adjusters, examiners, and investigators

Sales representatives, wholesale and manufacturing, technical

and scientific products

Management analysts

Market research analysts

Farmworkers and laborers, crop, nursery, and greenhouse

Financial analysts

Amusement and recreation attendants

Business operations specialists, all other

Computer software engineers, applications

Ratio of occupation's employment share in Elkhart‐Goshen, IN, to employment share in the United States

(See page 7 to view these data in table format.) 

In contrast, Elkhart-Goshen had employment shares that were a fraction of the U.S. 

average for the occupations shown in chart 2b, including computer software 

engineers, applications; business operations specialists, all other; and amusement 

and recreation attendants. Although the occupations in chart 2b represent a variety 

of occupational groups, 6 of the 10 are business and financial operations or computer 

and mathematical science occupations. With the exception of amusement and 

recreation attendants and farmworkers and laborers, crop, nursery, and greenhouse, 

all of these occupations were relatively high paying, with national mean wages above 

the U.S. all-occupations mean. 

The average wage in Elkhart-Goshen was $17.76 per hour or $36,940 annually, 

below the national mean wage of $20.32 per hour or $42,270 annually. Average 

wages for the area’s most prevalent occupational group, production occupations, 

were higher in Elkhart-Goshen than in the U.S. as a whole: $16.36 per hour in 

Elkhart-Goshen compared with $15.54 nationally. However, average wages were 

below national levels for most of the remaining occupational groups, in some cases 
5

by a substantial amount. For example, legal occupations had average wages of 

$44.36 per hour nationally compared with $24.72 in Elkhart-Goshen, while computer 

and mathematical science occupations had average wages of $35.82 nationally and 

$26.28 in Elkhart-Goshen. Overall wage levels in Elkhart-Goshen were further 

affected by the area’s occupational structure. Although local wages for production 

occupations were relatively high, wages for this group were still somewhat below the 

average for all occupations; as a result, Elkhart-Goshen’s high concentration of 

production workers tended to have a downward effect on the local average wage. In 

addition, Elkhart-Goshen had low employment concentrations of the highest paying 

occupational groups, such as management, legal, computer and mathematical 

science, and architecture and engineering occupations. 

Data on metropolitan area unemployment rates are from the Local Area 

Unemployment Statistics program (www.bls.gov/lau/). Employment shares for 

manufacturing industries come from the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages 

(www.bls.gov/cew/); May 2008 data are preliminary. Detailed occupational 

employment and wage data for Elkhart-Goshen, IN, can be found at 

www.bls.gov/oes/2008/may/oes_21140.htm. Complete OES data, including data for 

over 580 metropolitan and nonmetropolitan areas, are available from the OES home 

page at www.bls.gov/oes/. 

 

1

 Both the national and Elkhart-Goshen, IN, unemployment rates are not seasonally adjusted. 
6

Table 1. Employment distribution in Elkhart-Goshen, IN, and the United 

States by occupational major group, May 2008 

Major group 

ElkhartGoshen, IN, 

employment 

Percent of total 

Elkhart-Goshen, 

IN, employment 

U.S. 

employment 

Percent of 

total U.S. 

employment 

Management 4,000 3.2 6,152,650 4.6

Business and financial 

operations 2,530 2.0 6,135,520 4.5

Computer and 

mathematical science 740 0.6 3,308,260 2.4

Architecture and 

engineering 1,580 1.3 2,521,630 1.9

Life, physical, and social 

science 320 0.3 1,296,840 1.0

Community and social 

services 730 0.6 1,861,750 1.4

Legal 340 0.3 1,003,270 0.7

Education, training, and 

library 4,710 3.8 8,451,250 6.3

Arts, design, 

entertainment, sports, 

and media 

740 0.6 1,804,940 1.3

Healthcare practitioner 

and technical 4,510 3.7 7,076,800 5.2

Healthcare support 1,660 1.3 3,779,280 2.8

Protective service 1,220 1.0 3,128,960 2.3

Food preparation and 

serving related 7,170 5.8 11,438,550 8.5

Building and grounds 

cleaning and 

maintenance 

2,320 1.9 4,429,870 3.3

Personal care and service 1,300 1.1 3,437,520 2.5

Sales and related 9,830 8.0 14,336,430 10.6

Office and administrative 

support 16,360 13.2 23,231,750 17.2

Farming, fishing, and 

forestry 60 <0.1 438,490 0.3

Construction and 

extraction 6,110 4.9 6,548,760 4.8

Installation, maintenance, 

and repair 4,920 4.0 5,374,850 4.0

Production 42,000 34.0 9,919,120 7.3

Transportation and 

material moving 10,370 8.4 9,508,750 7.0

Total, all occupations 123,490 100.0 135,185,230 100.0
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Table 2a. Occupations with high employment shares in Elkhart-Goshen, IN, 

relative to the United States 

Occupation 

Ratio of occupation’s employment 

share in Elkhart-Goshen, IN, to 

employment share in the United 

States 

Fiberglass laminators and fabricators 40.0

Recreational vehicle service technicians 23.0

Cementing and gluing machine operators and tenders 19.0

Upholsterers 17.7

Team assemblers 13.4

Cutters and trimmers, hand 11.5

Painters, transportation equipment 11.5

Cutting and slicing machine setters, operators, and 

tenders 10.3

Structural metal fabricators and fitters 9.9

Production workers, all other 9.4

Table 2b. Occupations with low employment shares in Elkhart-Goshen, IN, 

relative to the United States 

Occupation 

Ratio of occupation’s employment 

share in Elkhart-Goshen, IN, to 

employment share in the United 

States 

Computer software engineers, applications 0.05

Business operations specialists, all other 0.08

Amusement and recreation attendants 0.11

Financial analysts 0.11

Farmworkers and laborers, crop, nursery, and 

greenhouse 0.11

Market research analysts 0.12

Management analysts 0.13

Sales representatives, wholesale and manufacturing, 

technical and scientific products 0.13

Claims adjusters, examiners, and investigators 0.14

Computer software engineers, systems software 0.14