Interesting Stat of the Day showing how the US economy has changed from a manufacturing economy (almost all of the top 10 employers in 1955 are related to the manufacturer and support of the automobile) to a service economy (i.e. large retailers).  I believe the top 10 in 1955 would be skewed even more towards the automobile if Ford Motor Company were included (they didn’t go public until 1956 so I believe they weren’t included in the Fortune 500 back then).

Stat of the Day
            9/23/2010
Top U.S. Corporate Employers
             
             
Rank 1955 # of Employees   Rank 2010 # of Employees
1 General Motors             576,667   1 Wal-mart        2,100,000
2 U.S. Steel             268,142   2 IBM           410,830
3 General Electric             210,151   3 UPS           408,000
4 Chrysler             167,813   4 Target           351,000
5 Standard Oil of New Jersey             155,000   5 Kroger           334,000
6 Amoco             135,784   6 Sears Holdings (incl. K-Mart)           322,000
7 CBS             117,143   7 General Electric           304,000
8 AT&T Technologies               98,141   8 Hewlett-Packard           304,000
9 Goodyear Tire & Rubber               95,727   9 Bank of America           283,000
10 Firestone Tire & Rubber               90,000   10 AT&T           272,450
             
             
  Source:  247Wallst.com, Fortune 500 database 1955 and 2010