Unemployment rate from 1947 to 2003 averaged 5.6 percent (Details). Today we are at 5.4 Many people are crying about the loss of manufacturing jobs but if today's unemployment rate is average...
Perhaps manufacturing jobs are being shifted to other sectors... Current employment is:
| Agriculture, forestry, fishing, and hunting | 2,275,000 | 1.25% |
| Mining | 525,000 | 0.29% |
| Construction | 10,138,000 | 5.57% |
| Manufacturing | 33,804,000 | 18.56% |
| Wholesale and retail | 41,412,000 | 22.73% |
| Transportation | 6,950,000 | 3.82% |
| Information | 3,687,000 | 2.02% |
| Financial | 9,748,000 | 5.35% |
| Professional and business services | 13,879,000 | 7.62% |
| Leisure | 11,607,000 | 6.37% |
| Other | 13,639,000 | 7.49% |
| *Public employment! | 6,243,000 | 3.43% |
| Education and health | 28,260,000 | 15.51% |
| 182,167,000 | 100.00% |
* Very confusing statistics.
Public Employment by state shows there are 15,602,141 people employed by
the government! If we use this number in the above table we find
government employment is actually over 8%. But
wait! There's More! The 15.6 million workers are
State and Local employees! The right column are
Federal Employees by State so add another 2,654,589 for a total government
18,256,730.
The government employs over 10% of the population.
| State | State & Local | Federal |
| AL | 267,453 | 47,919 |
| AK | 50,693 | 14,490 |
| AZ | 260,028 | 46,444 |
| AR | 150,079 | 19,640 |
| CA | 1,775,292 | 244,863 |
| CO | 239,808 | 52,431 |
| CT | 180,637 | 19,955 |
| DE | 46,598 | 5,245 |
| DC | 44,030 | 188,855 |
| FL | 788,804 | 121,662 |
| GA | 474,420 | 90,573 |
| HI | 70,461 | 25,256 |
| ID | 77,401 | 11,155 |
| IL | 642,896 | 92,419 |
| IN | 325,170 | 36,279 |
| IA | 174,080 | 18,425 |
| KS | 173,845 | 25,418 |
| KY | 230,053 | 30,696 |
| LA | 279,380 | 33,114 |
| ME | 73,701 | 13,654 |
| MD | 285,484 | 132,718 |
| MA | 327,526 | 53,490 |
| MI | 506,845 | 56,816 |
| MN | 279,095 | 33,624 |
| MS | 183,434 | 23,998 |
| MO | 312,539 | 54,120 |
| MT | 52,299 | 12,093 |
| NE | 113,929 | 15,403 |
| NV | 92,634 | 15,137 |
| NH | 65,930 | 8,729 |
| NJ | 484,903 | 63,281 |
| NM | 118,239 | 25,911 |
| NY | 1,189,388 | 133,017 |
| NC | 473,553 | 56,980 |
| ND | 38,751 | 7,955 |
| OH | 608,892 | 80,502 |
| OK | 204,348 | 43,776 |
| OR | 183,390 | 28,687 |
| PA | 553,307 | 106,358 |
| RI | 52,445 | 10,759 |
| SC | 240,582 | 26,592 |
| SD | 42,211 | 9,718 |
| TN | 306,367 | 49,271 |
| TX | 1,248,838 | 165,837 |
| UT | 123,340 | 32,562 |
| VT | 36,744 | 6,277 |
| VA | 411,066 | 143,234 |
| WA | 318,396 | 64,652 |
| WV | 93,150 | 18,967 |
| WI | 288,543 | 29,183 |
| WY | 41,144 | 6,449 |
| 15,602,141 | 2,654,589 | |
| Source | Source |