28 Feb, 2006
EC Industry Employment
The Bureau of Labor Statistics isn't finished with 2005 subcontractor data estimates and revisions, something you can see in the 2005 line below with the (p) indications in November and December. However, for the time being, here's the latest word on 2005 "production" employment in electrical contracting. While the BLS doens't define "production," I believe BLS is talking about foremen, journeymen electricians, apprentices, and helpers -- and other "hands-on" workers in this industry.
I've provided a BIG table, showing data back to 1996, for the sake of comparison. The "Ann" column provides the annual average employment. You'll note that if BLS freezes the numbers as you see 'em here, 2005 comes out as the 5th-best year over the past 10.
| Production* Employment In Electrical Contracting | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
(numbers in thousands. Example: Jan '96 = 528,100) | |||||||||||||
| Year | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Ann |
| 1996 | 528.1 | 522.6 | 524.0 | 530.3 | 540.6 | 562.3 | 581.6 | 585.7 | 582.2 | 582.2 | 585.0 | 583.8 | 559.0 |
| 1997 | 567.4 | 563.9 | 569.6 | 573.5 | 585.5 | 602.9 | 621.0 | 626.6 | 625.7 | 625.1 | 630.0 | 630.1 | 601.8 |
| 1998 | 616.5 | 612.4 | 611.1 | 615.1 | 628.9 | 647.9 | 666.2 | 671.4 | 669.9 | 676.4 | 675.7 | 679.1 | 647.6 |
| 1999 | 664.4 | 662.9 | 665.1 | 671.3 | 684.2 | 706.3 | 724.0 | 730.2 | 729.6 | 732.4 | 733.7 | 734.4 | 703.2 |
| 2000 | 722.3 | 719.3 | 727.3 | 738.0 | 747.3 | 764.2 | 777.1 | 783.9 | 784.1 | 778.9 | 781.2 | 776.7 | 758.4 |
| 2001 | 758.3 | 749.0 | 755.3 | 759.2 | 769.7 | 774.0 | 781.1 | 774.3 | 762.2 | 755.9 | 739.4 | 734.4 | 759.4 |
| 2002 | 709.7 | 701.0 | 697.4 | 693.9 | 699.0 | 709.4 | 714.6 | 713.8 | 704.3 | 688.8 | 685.1 | 677.2 | 699.5 |
| 2003 | 655.2 | 645.7 | 641.3 | 645.6 | 652.0 | 670.0 | 679.7 | 681.5 | 678.6 | 675.4 | 665.3 | 659.8 | 662.5 |
| 2004 | 637.7 | 629.0 | 634.5 | 641.9 | 650.1 | 664.4 | 674.1 | 668.7 | 661.3 | 669.7 | 672.0 | 667.0 | 655.9 |
| 2005 | 649.1 | 641.3 | 648.5 | 652.8 | 658.1 | 670.6 | 679.6 | 681.4 | 677.3 | 683.8 | 685.5 | 680.0(p) | 667.3(p) |
| * production employment = foremen, journeymen, apprentices & helpers. (p) = data subject to revision by Bureau of Labor Statistics | |||||||||||||