Employment Security Department
Labor Market & Economic Analysis Branch
Textiles and Apparel
Overview
Providing over 1.4 million jobs, America’s textiles and apparel enterprises remain a critical part of the
national economy. Forces of change—primarily technology and international competition—have gathered
strength for a generation, forcing the industry through its most profound transformation since the industrial
revolution. Such change has affected the nature of products produced; how they are produced; how they
are marketed; the structure, scale, and scope of the enterprises producing them; and the nature of jobs
created directly and indirectly by the industry.
Historically, the United States is one of the few nations that has left its markets largely open to foreign
sales of textiles and apparel; also, one of the few that paid little attention to the research needs of the
domestic industry. Surging textiles and apparel imports during the last two decades have resulted in
substantial downsizing and consolidation within the industry.
Figure 1
U.S. Textile and Apparel Trade, 1970-1998 (Millions of 1998 dollars)
Source: U.S. Department of Commerce, International Trade Administration
$80,000
$70,000
Millions of 1998 dollars
$60,000
$50,000
$40,000
Imp orts
$30,000
$20,000
$10,000
Exp orts
$0
1970
1972
1974
1976
1978
1980
1982
1984
1986
1988
1990
1992
1994
1996
1998
Once one of the more low-technology and labor-intensive industry sectors, apparel and especially textiles
have seen automation become a reality in an increasing number of its processes. As production
becomes automated, labor accounts for a smaller proportion of total costs. Indeed, wages and salaries
as a share of total costs have declined in recent years; not to mention total employment in both textiles
and apparel. Within a restructured industry, such factors as the cost of capital, the availability of skilled
labor to maintain high-technology equipment, the ready availability of low-cost and high-quality raw
materials, and the proximity of and access to markets have taken on greater importance.
Definition of Textile and Apparel Industries
This industry report uses industry definitions and concepts that underlie the U.S. government's Standard
Industrial Classification (SIC) system. In the SIC system, both textiles (SIC 22) and apparel (SIC 23) are
major industries, two of twenty such industries that form the manufacturing sector. Textiles and apparel
are, of course, distinct industries with unique characteristics and problems. Both industries are relatively
fragmented, but textile manufacturers have generally been larger and more capital-intensive than small,
labor-intensive apparel firms.
The entire textile and apparel industry includes enterprises in at least 54 four-digit standard industrial
classification codes. In addition, there are nonmanufacturing sectors totally dependent on textile and
apparel manufacturing—most notably wholesalers and retailers.
Figure 2
Employment in U.S. Textiles and Apparel Industries, 1969-1997
Source: U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis
1,500
1,400
Textile
A pparel
Thousands of workers
1,300
1,200
1,100
1,000
900
800
700
600
500
1970
1972
1974
1976
1978
1980
1982
1984
1986
1988
1990
1992
1994
1996
1998
According to the Standard Industrial Classification, textile has nine separate textile mill products
subsectors (three-digit) and 23 market segments (four-digit) defined by broad product categories. Each
of the 6,134 textile establishments operating in the United States was placed in one of these nine industry
subsectors:









Broadwoven fabric mills, cotton (SIC 221);
Broadwoven fabric mills, manmade fiber and silk (SIC 222);
Broadwoven fabric mills, wool, including dying and finishing (SIC 223);
Narrow fabric and other smallwares mills: cotton, wool, silk, and manmade fiber (SIC 224);
Knitting mills (SIC 225)—including knit women’s full-length and knee-length hosiery, socks,
outerwear, underwear and nightwear, weft (circular) fabrics, lace and warp (flat) knit fabrics,
and knitting gloves and other ;
Dyeing and finishing textiles, except wool fabrics and knit goods (SIC 226)—including
finishers of cotton broadwoven fabrics and finishers of broadwoven fabrics of manmade fiber
and silk;
Carpets and rugs (SIC 227);
Yarn and thread mills (SIC 228); and
Miscellaneous textile mills (SIC 229)—including non-rubberized coated fabrics, tire cord and
fabrics, nonwoven fabrics, cordage and twine, and other textile goods such as linen, jute,
gelt, padding and upholstery filling and processed waste and recovered fibers.
According to the Standard Industrial Classification, apparel has nine separate apparel and other finished
products subsectors and 31 market segments defined by broad product categories. Each of the 23,345
apparel establishments operating in the United States in 1997 was placed in one of these nine industry
subsectors:









Men’s and boys’ suits, coats, and overcoats (SIC 231);
Men’s and boys’ furnishings, work clothing, and allied garments (SIC 232), including shirts,
underwear and nightwear, neckwear, trousers and pants, and work clothing;
Women’s, misses’ and juniors’ outerwear (SIC 233)—including blouses and shires, dresses,
suits, skirts, and coats;
Women’s, misses’, children’s, and infants’ undergarments (SIC 234)—including underwear
and nightwear, brassieres, girdles and allied garments;
Hats, caps, and millinery (SIC 235);
Women’s, misses’ children’s, and infants’ outerwear (SIC 236)—including dresses, blouses,
and shirts;
Fur goods (SIC 237);
Miscellaneous apparel and accessories (SIC 238)—including dress and work gloves, robes
and dressing gowns, waterproof outerwear, leather and sheep clothing, apparel belts,
suspenders, garters, handkerchiefs, and other apparel; and
Miscellaneous fabricated textile products (SIC 239)—including curtains and draperies, house
furnishings, textile bags, canvas and related products, pleating and decorative stitching,
automotive trimmings, Schiffli machine embroideries, and other fabricated textile products.
The various sectors of this textile-apparel industry complex compete in a variety of markets, ranging from
the trade of cotton on exchange markets to the wholesale and retail distribution of textile and apparel
goods. All of these markets have become global in nature. Some, such as textile mill products, are being
increasingly integrated. Others, primarily apparel, are still fundamentally a sector of small employers with
limited production variety.
Traditionally, the textiles-apparel industry has been horizontally structured with the manufacture of cloth
and the manufacture of clothing separate and distinct. The flow sequence began with fiber (textile)
producers supplying raw material to yarn manufacturing plants, which in turn sold yarn to weaving and
knitting facilities. Manufactured fabric was then sold to a fabric finisher, and then sold to the garment
manufacturer. Textile converters and jobbers helped oversee the movement of products from one
processor to another, supplying a finished apparel product to cutters and/or retailers and maintaining
supplies for spot markets. Inefficiencies were imbedded within this flow sequence, making rapid
response to market needs very difficult.
In many ways, each of the textiles-apparel industry segments is unique in business structure,
management style, history and business culture, and technology. Together, the industry segments share
a common problem: finding the means to prosper in an increasingly global competitive environment by
through technological improvements and restructuring. The large-scale, mass production methods that
once characterized the industry is in the past simply because it no longer ensures future competitiveness.
Today, the textiles and apparel market is increasingly global operating in a highly competitive market,
requiring specialization and targeting market niches. The industry has restructured from one of many
small firms to one of few large integrated firms. More significant is the array of new production and
control technologies, controlled through a “quick response” network that effectively reduces the distance
between producers and retailers. Technological advancements is seen by industry trade groups as the
key to increased competitiveness in the global marketplace.
Current Status
In 1998, the combined Washington textiles and apparel industry employed 8,850 workers; representing
about 2 percent of the state’s manufacturing workforce. Growth in the number of textiles and apparel
industry establishments in Washington has been steady; between 1981 and 1998, the average annual
growth in establishments has been 8.2 percent, with miscellaneous apparel and accessories and
miscellaneous fabricated textile products capturing the lion’s share of the industry’s growth. Textiles
growth, in general, has been modest; virtually all of the growth in establishments has come from apparel.
Figure 3
Number of Establishments in Washington Textile and Apparel Industries, 1981-1998
Source: Washington Employment Security Department
600
Textiles
500
Number of establishments
A pparel
400
300
200
100
0
1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998
The current employment picture in Washington textiles and apparel has modestly changed since the
1980s. Although year-to-year changes have been erratic, textiles has only added around 70 net
employees between 1981 and 1998. Most of these net textiles employees were in miscellaneous textile
goods subsector (SIC 229). During the same period, apparel added about 2,100 net workers for an
average annual growth rate of 2.2 percent. Virtually all of the added employees were in women’s and
misses’outerwear (SIC 233), miscellaneous apparel and accessories (SIC 238), and miscellaneous
fabricated textile products (SIC 239). Other subsectors, notably broadwoven fabric mills, wool (SIC 223),
knitting mills (SIC 225), men’s and boys’ furnishings (SIC 232), and girls’, children’s, and infants’
outerwear (SIC 236), lost employment in recent years.
Figure 4
Employment in Washington Textiles & Apparel Industries, 1981-1998
Source: Washington Employment Security Department
10,000
9,000
8,000
Total employment
7,000
6,000
5,000
4,000
3,000
2,000
1,000
0
1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998
A pparel
Textiles
Key factors that affect the demand for many textiles and apparel subsectors include health of end-use
markets, growth in the overall economy and consumer spending, and trends in foreign trade. A board
range of textile products are used in the production of apparel, home furnishings, and industrial products.
Carpets and rugs, for instance follow the economic fundamentals that drive demand. Homebuilding and
automobile production are the two major sources of demand for carpets and rugs. Key variables to watch
in analyzing market trends for this subsector are consumer spending and income and interest rates. Most
apparel markets are affected by trends in consumer spending, overall growth in the national economy,
demographics, and foreign trade.
Textiles and apparel in Washington are largely composed of small companies that manufacture various
textiles and apparel products. About 51 percent of all textiles workers are found in establishments with
100 or more employees, compared with 45 percent of all apparel workers and 60 percent of all state
nonfarm workers.
Figure 5
Size of Establishments of Washington Textiles and Apparel Industries, 1998
Source: Washington Employment Security Department
60%
State
Share of total employment
50%
Textiles
A pparel
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
1-19
20-49
50-99
100-249
250-500+
Number of employ ees per est ablishment
In 1998, average covered wages for textiles and apparel workers was $34,020 and $20,411 respectively.
Textiles workers earned slightly more that the statewide nonfarm covered wage. Apparel workers rank
last in wages and salaries among all manufacturing workers and their annual covered wages are forty
percent lower than the statewide nonfarm average. While textiles workers have enjoyed substantial wage
growth between 1981 and 1998 (with average annual real—without inflation—of 4.4 percent), apparel
workers pay has barely kept pace with inflation (0.5 percent real growth per year).
Table 1
Real Average Wages for Washington Covered Textiles and Apparel Industries Workers, 1981-1998
(1998 dollars)
Sources: Washington Employment Security Department, U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis
Sector
1981 1983 1985 1987 1989 1991 1993 1995 1997 1998
Textiles
$19,536 $21,207 $21,821 $22,114 $22,448 $25,973 $28,552 $29,856 $31,306 $34,020
Apparel
State manufacturing
$18,897 $19,362 $18,356 $18,215 $17,362 $17,828 $18,098 $17,934 $19,545 $20,411
$38,352 $37,909 $38,024 $37,876 $37,338 $37,667 $38,018 $38,942 $40,954 $42,247
State nonfarm
$28,783 $27,789 $27,313 $27,304 $27,167 $27,928 $28,575 $29,046 $31,504 $33,922
The distribution of hourly wages for textiles and apparel is dissimilar to the state, with a pronounced
disposition toward lower hourly wages. More than half of all workers in both textiles and apparel earn $12
or less per hour, compared with 41 percent of all nonfarm workers in the state. More than two-thirds of all
apparel workers earn less than $10 per hour.
Figure 6
Hourly Wages for Washington Textile & Apparel Workers, 1997
Source: Washington Employment Security Department
35%
Share of total employment
30%
25%
20%
15%
10%
5%
0%
<$6
$6-$8
$8-$10
$10-$12 $12-$14 $14-$16 $16-$18 $18-$20 $20-$22 $22-$24 $24-$26
>$26
Hourly wage
State
Textiles
Ap p arel
The labor force in both the textiles and apparel sectors are dominated by operatives and laborers.
Common textiles and apparel occupations within this group are machinists, and equipment operators.
Administrative and clerical occupations are also important in both these industries.
Table 2
Occupational Profile of Textiles and Apparel Workers in Washington, 1998 and 2008
Source: Washington Employment Security Department
Estimated 1998
Projected 2008
Textile & apparel (SIC 22 & 23)
Percent of
Percent of
Estimated
Total
Projected
Total
Major Occupational Class
Employment Employment Employment Employment
Managerial & Administrative
560
5.8%
651
6.6%
Professional, Paraprofessional & Technical
254
2.6%
331
3.3%
Sales & Related Occupations
309
3.2%
376
3.8%
Clerical & Administrative Support
949
9.9%
997
10.1%
Service Occupations
46
4.8%
44
4.4%
Production, Operating & Maintenance
1,114
11.6%
1,206
12.2%
Operators, Helpers & Laborers
5,796
60.3%
5,577
56.3%
Undefined Occupations
589
6.1%
721
7.3%
TOTAL
9,617
100.0%
9,903
100.0%
Contribution of Textiles & Apparel Industries to the Washington Economy
Compared to the nation, the relative importance of both textiles and apparel to the Washington economy
is low. Since 1977, the index of specialization for Washington textiles and apparel has remained well
below 0.5 and 0.15, respectively (an index of 1.0 signals the same importance of an industry for
Washington as for the U.S.).
Although most textiles and apparel manufacturers in Washington service regional and domestic markets,
an increasing share of production is being exported to foreign customers. In 1998, textile and apparel
foreign exports from Washington totaled $76.2 million. An estimated one-fourth of all textile and apparel
workers are supported by foreign exports.
Figure 7
Index of Specialization for Washington Textiles & Apparel Industries, 1977-1997
Source: U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Gross State Product series.
0.45
0.40
Index of specialization
0.35
0.30
0.25
0.20
0.15
0.10
0.05
0.00
1977
1979
1981
1983
1985
1987
Textiles
1989
1991
1993
1995
1997
Ap p arel
Outlook
Textiles and apparel industries have underperformed the state economy during this decade. Combined
employment in these two sectors has risen at a lackluster 1.9 percent average annual pace since 1981,
significantly less than total nonfarm employment (3.4 percent). Continued global competition for textiles
and apparel markets are expected to spur changes in the domestic industries for the next decade. The
American Textile Partnership (AMTEX) is working to link textile mills, apparel manufacturers, wholesalers,
and retailers in an electronic network to respond more efficiently to changing consumer spending
patterns; hence, to remain competitive within the global marketplace. Industry experts forecast that
between 1999 and 2006, global sales of most textiles and apparel will increase between 2-3 percent a
year. The result of this outlook is modest expansion within the Washington textiles and apparel
industries. By the year 2020, textile and apparel products manufacturers are forecast to employ a
combined 10,310 workers, an average annual growth rate (2000-2020) of 0.7 percent. The growth sector
in these two industries is miscellaneous fabricated textile products with an average annual increase of 3.3
percent.
Figure 8
Washington Textiles and Apparel Wage & Salary Employment Forecast, 2000-2020
Sources: Washington Office of Financial Management, Washington Employment Security Department
12,000
Total employment
10,000
8,000
6,000
4,000
2,000
0
1995
2000
2005
Ap p arel
2010
Textiles
2015
2020