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Textile, apparel, and furnishings workers held over 1.1 million jobs in 2002. Employment in the detailed occupations that make up this group was distributed as follows:
Sewing machine operators 315,000
Laundry and drycleaning workers 231,000
Pressers, textile, garment, and related materials 91,000
Textile winding, twisting, and drawing out machine setters, operators, and tenders 66,000
All other textile, apparel, and furnishings workers 61,000
Upholsterers 56,000
Tailors, dressmakers, and sewers 53,000
Textile knitting and weaving machine setters, operators, and tenders 53,000
Textile cutting machine setters, operators, and tenders 34,000
Extruding and forming machine setters, operators, and tenders, synthetic and glass fibers 27,000
Textile bleaching and dyeing machine operators and tenders 27,000
Shoe and leather workers and repairers 16,000
Fabric and apparel patternmakers 11,000
Shoe machine operators and tenders 6,600
Manufacturing jobs are concentrated in California, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, and Georgia. Jobs in reupholstery, shoe repair and custom leatherwork, and laundry and drycleaning establishments are found in cities and towns throughout the Nation. Overall, about 10 percent of all workers in textile, apparel, and furnishings occupations were self-employed; however, more than one-third of tailors, dressmakers, and sewers and more than one-quarter of upholsterers were self-employed.
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Employment of textile, apparel, and furnishings workers is expected to decline through 2012. Apparel workers have been among the most rapidly declining occupational groups in the economy, and increasing imports, the use of offshore assembly, and greater productivity through new automation will contribute to additional job losses. Also, many new textiles require less production and processing. Because of the large size of this occupation, however, many thousands of job openings will arise each year from the need to replace persons who transfer to other occupations, retire, or leave the occupation for other reasons.
Employment in the domestic textile and apparel industries has declined in recent years as foreign producers have gained a greater share of the U.S. market. Domestic production—especially of apparel—will continue to move abroad, and imports to the U.S. market will increase. Declines in U.S. apparel production will cause reductions in domestic textile production because the apparel industry is the largest consumer of American-made textiles. Fierce competition in the market for apparel will keep domestic apparel and textile firms under intense pressure to cut costs and produce more with fewer workers.
The textile industry already is highly automated, but it will continue to seek to increase worker productivity through the introduction of laborsaving machinery and the invention of new fibers and fabrics that reduce production costs. Despite advances in technology, the apparel industry has had difficulty employing automated equipment extensively due to the soft properties of textile products. The industry produces a wide variety of apparel items that change frequently with changes in style and season. Technological developments, such as computer-aided marking and grading, computer-controlled cutters, semiautomatic sewing and pressing machines, and automated material-handling systems have increased output while reducing the need for some workers in larger firms. However, assembly and sewing continues to be the most labor-intensive step in the production of apparel, and increasing numbers of sewing machine operator jobs are expected to be lost to lower wage workers abroad. Still, improvements in productivity will allow many of the presewing functions of design, patternmaking, marking, and cutting to continue be done domestically, and employment of workers who perform these functions will not be as adversely affected.
Outside of the manufacturing sector, tailors, dressmakers, and sewers—the most skilled apparel workers—also are expected to experience declining employment. Demand for their services will continue to lessen as consumers become increasingly likely to buy new, mass-produced apparel instead of purchasing custom-made apparel or having clothes altered or repaired.
Employment of shoe and leather workers is expected to decline through 2012 due to growing imports of less expensive shoes and leather goods, increasing productivity of U.S. manufacturers, and the more frequent tendency to buy new shoes rather than repair worn or damaged ones. However, declines are expected to be somewhat offset as more people invest in expensive leather shoes that they will want repaired. Also, as the population continues to age, more people will need custom shoes for health reasons.
Employment of upholsterers is expected to decline through 2012 as new furniture and automotive seats use more durable coverings and as manufacturing firms continue to become more automated and efficient. Demand for the reupholstery of furniture also is expected to decline as the increasing manufacture of new, relatively inexpensive upholstered furniture causes many people simply to replace old, worn furniture. However, demand will continue to be steady for upholsterers who restore very valuable furniture. Most reupholstery work is labor intensive and not easily automated. Job opportunities for experienced upholsterers should be good because few young people enter the occupation and few shops offer training.
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