Los Angeles is one of the leading business and trade cultural centers in the state of California. It has the largest manufacturing industry in the West, having 500,000 employees as of 2003. It also has the largest retail market in the country, is a major center for banking and finance, and the city has one of the busiest ports in the world. With regards to manufacturing, major categories include apparel, computer and electronic, transportation, food, fabricated metal, and furniture. Several auto manufacturers have design centers in LA, such as Honda, Toyota, Volvo, Volkswagen, and more. Job count per category are as follows:
- Apparel – 68,300 jobs
- Computer and electronic products – 60,000 jobs
- Transportation products – 54,600 jobs
- Fabricated metal products – 49,900 jobs
- Food products – 44,800 jobs
- Furniture – 27,400 jobs
Logistics & Supply Chain
LA, having one of the busiest ports, handles a lot of goods due to it being close to major manufacturing countries in the Pacific, like Japan, Taiwan, and Korea. It has easy access to transcontinental rail and truck shipping, too. There are over 50 foreign companies that have chosen LA as their headquarters due to its prominence in the international trade industry.
Entertainment & Tourism
The best known industry in this city is film, TV and music. This is what makes LA a major tourist destination. In the whole metropolitan area, there are over 468,000 employees in the tourism industry alone.
Population by Occupation
Unemployment rate in LA is 8.50%. The job growth forecast in the incoming 10 years is around 36.50%. Here are some of the major job classifications and the percentage of the Los Angeles population employed in each one:
| Management, business, finance | 13.35% |
| Engineering, computers, science | 3.84% |
| Community, social services | 1.40% |
| Legal | 1.76% |
| Education, library | 4.97% |
| Arts, media, sports, entertainment | 5.99% |
| Healthcare practitioners & technology | 3.88% |
| Healthcare support | 1.94% |
| Firefighters, law enforcement | 1.70% |
| Food preparation, serving | 6.05% |
| Building maintenance | 6.10% |
| Personal care | 4.89% |
| Sales, office, administrative support | 23.67% |
| Farming, fishing, forestry | 0.35% |
| Construction, maintenance/repair | 7.96% |
| Production, transportation | 12.16% |
