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CENSUS BUREAU ESTIMATES LOGGING POPULATION Doug Duncan of the North Carolina Forestry Association has drawn to our attention the U.S. Census Bureau's 1997 Economic Census for the Logging Industry. The Bureau estimates a total of 13,533 logging businesses for the U.S. in 1997, employing a total of 83,203 employees, with an annual payroll of $2,011,926,000; 72,589 of those employees are "production workers" (who work in the woods), by the Bureau's estimate. A total of 634 logging businesses nationwide employ 20 or more persons. The publication provides a table with a state-by-state breakdown of employees, total payroll, and other basic financial data. Although the Bureau expresses the figures in very exact terms, it admits much of them are based on estimates and extrapolations; for one thing, the Bureau does not require companies with fewer than five employees to complete its report form-and since such companies comprise approximately 40% of logging businesses, there is reason to be cautious in depending on these figures. (FRA's 1996 attempt to provide a total of U.S. logging businesses and logging workers, derived from a poll of state forestry and logging associations, came up with figures nearly three times as high as the Census Bureau's: an estimated 37,000 businesses and 195,000 employees.) Nonetheless, comparisons between the Bureau's 1992 and 1997 reports are revealing. The Bureau observes that the total value of logging products shipped declined during that five-year period, from $12,962,314,000 in 1992 to $12,287,555,000 in 1997. This slight drop is especially significant in that the figures are not adjusted for inflation. Value of pulpwood shipped, however, increased slightly during the same period, from $1,015,502,000 in 1992 to $1,085,283,000 in 1997. The Economic Census is available as a .pdf file, approximately 30 pages, at the Census Bureau's web site: www.census.gov/prod/ec97/97m1133a.pdf (Adobe® Acrobat® Reader 4.0, available at no cost from Adobe, is necessary to view or download). Back to "News" Forest Resources Association
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