11 Companies With The Most Employees In The US

The 11 companies with the most employees in the US provide paychecks to millions of people each week (well, the ones that pay weekly), even if some of those paychecks aren’t always appreciated by the general populace.

The US unemployment rate hit a 16-year low of 4.3% earlier this year before ticking up slightly to 4.4% in June. Despite the uptick, jobs growth was strong in June, with 222,000 jobs being created, well ahead of estimates. Indeed, the unemployment rate only rose because new employment seekers outpaced the jobs growth, not because jobs declined.

However, wage growth has remained relatively stagnant, which is often cited in any discussion about America’s eroded middle class. That’s come as somewhat of a surprise to economists, who believe that wage growth should be accelerating with unemployment so low, as there’s more competition for workers.

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However, it’s possible that unemployment is not the best benchmark to use to determine expected wage growth. Underemployment actually appears to be the more telling statistic, as it represents the likelihood of an employer finding a qualified worker for a full-time position. And by that metric, it’s not surprising that wage growth isn’t going anywhere, as underemployment stood at 14% in April, up from less than 13% late last year.

If we look at US employment by state, we see some interesting trends. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE:WMT) dominates many of the southern states, ranking as the largest employer in 19 states overall. It’s also the only company that is the largest employer in more than one state. Boeing Co (NYSE:BA) is the top employer in Washington state, while Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC) is the biggest in Oregon. Universities or healthcare companies are the largest employers in many of the remaining states, save for Nevada, which of course is led by a casino company (MGM Resorts International (NYSE:MGM)).

For our list of the 11 companies with the most employees in the US, we’ve used data on the world’s largest employers, restricting that list to US companies, which are most likely to have a sizable percentage of their operations in the US. While it isn’t ideal, comprehensive statistics for US-specific employment by company are not readily available. However, we have included that data where possible.

For a look at companies which may be more stable employers, don’t miss our list of the 10 Most Stable Companies In The US. Now then, head to the next page to begin the list of the 11 companies with the most employees in the US.