- America in the 1950s was a very different place than today.
- To get a sense of how the economy has changed over the last seven decades, we used Census data to find 20 industries that used to be huge employers in 1950 that are a fraction of their size today.
- Many of the industries are in manufacturing.
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America in the 1950s was a very different place than today.
Pop culture as we know it was just beginning to emerge with widespread adoption of TV. The US had been on the winning side of World War II, and had a much higher share of the global economy than today, with much of the rest of the industrialized world in ruins.
American society was much different in an era before the Civil Rights, gay rights, and feminist movements opened opportunities to wide swaths of the population traditionally denied those opportunities.
The US economy has dramatically changed since that time as well. To get a sense of how much things have changed, we found 20 jobs that employed hundreds of thousands of people in 1950 that are only a fraction of that size today.
Using data from the 1950 Census and the 2017 American Community Survey assembled by the Minnesota Population Center's Integrated Public Use Microdata Series project, we looked at what industries had the biggest percent drops in employment between then and now, among industries with at least 100,000 employees in 1950.
For our analysis, we used industries as classified by the Census Bureau in 1950. Entirely new sectors of the economy, like the modern information technology industry, have emerged since that time as new inventions have taken hold.
Most of the industries on the list are in manufacturing, a sector that has radically transformed over the last 70 years. Other areas, like agriculture, have seen huge changes through technological development, leading to much lower employment.
Here are the industries, along with the number of employees in 1950 and 2017:
20. Agricultural machinery and tractor manufacturing: 177,522 people were employed in 1950, falling to 108,392 in 2017 (a 39% drop).
What the industry does: Manufactures tractors and other agricultural equipment.
19. Rubber products manufacturing: 243,401 people were employed in 1950, falling to 147,759 in 2017 (a 39% drop).
What the industry does: Manufactures products made of rubber.
18. Petroleum products wholesale trade: 166,488 people were employed in 1950, falling to 94,992 in 2017 (a 43% drop).
What the industry does: Sells petroleum products at wholesale to other businesses.
17. Farm product wholesale trade: 114,685 people were employed in 1950, falling to 62,695 in 2017 (a 45% drop).
What the industry does: Sells raw materials produced on farms at wholesale to other businesses.
16. Primary non-ferrous metal manufacturing: 235,856 people were employed in 1950, falling to 118,779 in 2017 (a 50% drop).
What the industry does:Produces metal alloys and materials that don't include iron.
15. Fuel and ice retailing: 172,841 people were employed in 1950, falling to 85,806 in 2017 (a 50% drop).
What the industry does: Sells fuel and ice to consumers.
14. Private household services: 1,713,352 people were employed in 1950, falling to 847,769 in 2017 (a 51% drop).
What the industry does: Employs workers like butlers, housekeepers, and cooks in private households.
13. Agriculture: 7,088,904 people were employed in 1950, falling to 3,429,844 in 2017 (a 52% drop).
What the industry does: Produces food and other crops.
12. Logging: 187,314 people were employed in 1950, falling to 80,998 in 2017 (a 57% drop).
What the industry does: Produces lumber from forestry activities.
11. Laundering, cleaning, and dyeing: 696,742 people were employed in 1950, falling to 295,395 in 2017 (a 58% drop).
What the industry does: Cleans or dyes clothing.
10. Blast furnaces, steel works, and rolling mills: 691,184 people were employed in 1950, falling to 270,367 in 2017 (a 61% drop).
What the industry does: Produces steel and iron alloys and materials.
9. Water transportation: 212,979 people were employed in 1950, falling to 74,362 in 2017 (a 65% drop).
What the industry does: Moves goods and people over bodies of water in ships.
8. Primary iron and steel industries (other than blast furnaces, steel works, and rolling mills): 282,922 people were employed in 1950, falling to 88,234 in 2017 (a 69% drop).
What the industry does: Covers activities involving producing steel or other iron alloys and materials outside of the blast furnace, steel works, and rolling mills industry.
7. Apparel and accessories manufacturing: 1,006,386 people were employed in 1950, falling to 207,023 in 2017 (a 79% drop).
What the industry does: Manufactures clothing and accessories.
6. Tobacco product manufacturing: 104,689 people were employed in 1950, falling to 20,286 in 2017 (an 81% drop).
What the industry does: Manufactures tobacco products like cigarettes.
5. Railroads and railway transportation: 1,436,681 people were employed in 1950, falling to 254,836 in 2017 (an 82% drop).
What the industry does: Transports goods and people over railroads using trains.
4. Yarn, thread, and fabric manufacturing: 897,266 people were employed in 1950, falling to 107,607 in 2017 (an 88% drop).
What the industry does: Produces yarn and other textiles.
3. Footwear manufacturing: 277,639 people were employed in 1950, falling to 32,577 in 2017 (an 88% drop).
What the industry does: Produces shoes and other footwear.
2. Coal mining: 537,702 people were employed in 1950, falling to 62,536 in 2017 (an 88% drop).
What the industry does: Mines coal for power generation or other industrial processes.
1. Knitting mills: 208,863 people were employed in 1950, falling to 18,074 in 2017 (a 91% drop).
What the industry does: Manufactures knit clothing and other goods.