The Wilmington morning star., 1947-08-31
By S. F. Campbell, Director, Blu
reau of Research and Statistics
4 Employment Security Com
mission of North Carolina.

n Employment Security COm-
mission of North Carolina.
More thar, half Of the people en-
saged in v TX other than agrlcul-
ture in North Carolina earn their
living in manufacture. Increased
EMPLOYMENT in manufacture IS OF
special importance in North Caro-
lima. not only because it helps to
slow up migration of its produc-
tive labor from the State, which
has been ont the increase for a
generation, INIT also because II
means adding value to u W
natural resoura es and raw mate
rails. In additi On, it promotes in
creased product ion in agriculture
and mining.
1t is of intep est, therefore, to
learn something of the geographic
distribution Of employment IN
manufacture, as well as the over
all volume and growth.
Two Decades of Progress
Endowment in manufacture in
North Carolina has increased from
28e. 245 in 1880 to I225, 539 in 1910
according to the U. s. Census. This
represents a gain of 1877 per cent
in. ten years.
-Bv 1e45 manufactu ring had in
creased to 352, 1906, a 6 aln OF 66'oSl
workers, or 23.1 per cent during
the. fifteen year period. This is
not an outstanding increase, less
than two per cent a we ar, but It's
Significance increases when you
consider that total employment In
the state in 1945 (estimate ted at L.
O8O. OOO was less than in! 1880 by
61.129 workers. and less than IN
1910 by 1923, $50 workers. This, OF
course. is attributable largely to
the fact that in 1915 1861 veter-
n who had been discharged had
not been reabsorbed into he en-
ployed labor force.
Agricultural employment mas
steadily declined from 500, 600 in
1880 to 4O6, 900 in 1910 and to an
estimated 1896, 900 in 1915.
It is of interest to compare the
growth in manufacturing employ
ment with the trend in total en-
p1oyment and in non-agrictntural
employment.
In 1880 non-agricultural employ
ment represented 56.2 per CENT OF
The total employment. BY 1910 it
had increased by PIP per cent.
and represented 1854 per cent OF
total employment, as compared
to 1862 per cent IN 1871. n
Manufacturing employ ment,
which had increased during the
decade at a much lower rate Q3.1
per. cent? represented 1853 per
cent of total employment In ls4o,
as compared to I'll per cent IN
1880. In 1910 manufacturing en-
ployment represented 4O.6 per cent
of the total non-agricultural en-
nlovment. as compared to 44.b per
cent in 1880.
4A%cceleratiOn Comes With 194U
The picture changed materially
hetween 1910 and 1871. While total
employment had declined since
1910 by more than ten per cent,
and non-agricultural employment
had declined by nearly fifteen per
cent, employment in manufacture
continued upward with a gain OF
bettcY than eight per cent, n ac-
co cd for more than half OF the
no. gricultural employment, and
nea4Iy one-third of all employment
Including agriculture, forestry and
fishing.
j., Geographic Distribution OF
Manufacture
The tree photographic regions
of the state mark well defined dill
ferences in the industrial compo-
sition of the areas. 1t is of inter-
est to examine the relationship be-
tween employment in manufacture
and total non-agricultural employ
n1ent in these areas
Figures are not available on l945
non-agricultural employment by
counties and regions, therefore,
the data on non-agricultural en-
ployment in 1910 have been used
for the basis of a ratio, and in
1910 non-agricultural employment
was approximately Is per cent
greater than in 1945.
However, 1945 figures are avail
able on total employment covered
by the employment security law,
and since this represents approx
mately 95 per cent of the non-agri-
cultural employment, exclusive OF
government and non-farm domes-
tics. a ratio has also been COM
puted between manufacturing en-
ployment and covered employment
for each county and region. The
results are graphically presented
on the charted map.
For the whole State, employment
in manufacture represents $50 pei
cent of all covered employment.
In the Mountain Region it repre-
sents 82.1 per cent of all covered
employment, and it is somewhat
surprising that the ratio of manu-
featuring employment to covered
employment is higher in this
region than in the Piedmont
Plateau, where the ratio is 69.l
per cent. This, perhaps, is &C.
counted for by the fact that the
proportion of small firms rot COW
cred by the E. S. law is greater
in the mountain counties, for. or
a, basis of 1910 census figures on
the non-agricultural labor force,
the ratio is slightly higher for the
Piedmont area, 49.4 per cen as