The Changing South

Abstract

Page 17 4. Composition of Southern Industry. The presence of industries alone does not assure the economic well-being of a region. Some industries are more important than others in boosting the region up the economic ladder — these are the industries that make the most efficient use of manpower, that have a high ratio of capital to labor and thus rank high in terms of output per man hour and value added per employee. The South has made great strides in working towards this goal — it has the same proportion as the rest of the country of employees working in the chemical, petroleum, tobacco, primary metals and paper industries, the top five Industries ranked according to value added per employee, but it still has an over- predominance of the low value industries. Over hal'lf of its employees work in the five lowest industries -- apparel, textile, leather, lumber, and furniture