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the increasing manufacturing employment during this period; however, the rate of absorption was not suffi- cient to allow the total employment in the basin to keep pace with the total increase in the Nation. The noncommodity-producing group has shown a significant gain historically and is projected to grow to about 75 percent of the total employment in the basin by 2020. While this industrial sector contains some industries which are basic to particular local economies and are generative in that they support local employ- ment, the majority of employment in this sector is of the trade-in-service variety, and typically "labor- intensive." They depend upon commodity-producing or export-based industry in the local area, or may be categorized as linked to these basic type industries. Growth of employment in these industries is therefore explained by and depends upon growth in the local export base. Because of their "labor-intensive" charac- ter, employment increases in these industries over a period tend to be more than proportional to employ- ment increases in the basic type industries, which are generally highly "capital-intensive." It may be concluded that noncommodity-producing industries which show increasing shares of total employment are reasonable, and to be expected. Without a like increase in the other commodity- producing sectors to offset the continued decline in agricultural employment, one cannot expect the basin's employment to keep pace with that of the Nation. The shift out of agricultural employment and the pattern of "little farms becoming big ones" create many problems such as the formation of ghost towns. These, in turn, increase the influx of the basin's population to the larger cities. INCOME Agriculture, the predominant source of income or means of livelihood has historically held average personal income per capita to the lower brackets. What portion of the total economy that is dependent, either directly or indirectly, on agriculture is difficult to estimate pre- cisely. A large portion of the noncommodity-producing industries is made up of segments such as machinery maintenance, feed grinding, fuel delivery, electric power service, and similar services of inputs to agriculture, which depend upon the farmer's income. In the manu- facturing sector, the largest component is that of the food-processing industry directly related to agriculture. Likewise, the large livestock markets and numerous meat packing plants are the basics of agricultural economy. Of the basic industries, agriculture is the major employer. This is true even with the decreases in agricultural employment due to the interrelated rural out-migration and the technological advancements, in- cluding mechanization of the farm. 20 The products of agriculture sold in the basin were worth approximately 4.6 billion dollars in 1959 and 5.1 billion in 1964, with the average value per farm being $13,444 in the latter year. In 1964, livestock and livestock products accounted for 70.6 percent of the total sales from farms. Manufacturing, a basic type industry, has enjoyed a rapid growth during the last two decades; however, it is located primarily in the larger metropolitan areas. The smaller urban places in the basin, where alternative sources of employment and income are needed to offset the loss resulting from changes in agriculture, are still virtually without manufacturing. Cities of 10,000 to 50,000 population have experienced some success in attracting manufacturing in recent years, due largely to the trend of decentralization in the food-processing industries. A small amount of light industry, such as machinery fabrication and electronics, has moved into the basin. Even with this influx of manufacturing, the plains portion of the basin has been largely void of any material gain. The most rapidly expanding sector of the economy is the noncommodity-producing group which has the largest proportion of employment and exerts the greatest influence on the average earnings per employee. In 1960, about 62 percent of the basin workers were employed in this sector. Even though the non- commodity sector contains some industries which are basic to particular local economies (and are generative in that they support local employment), the majority of the employment is generated in the trades or services. It must be noted that this employment is dependent largely upon the wealth produced by the more basic sectors of agriculture and manufacturing. Only when these industries are supported by income from outside of the basin do they add to the basin's economic growth or economy. Otherwise, they simply represent the reexpenditures of wealth created by some other industry within the basin. This is not always a desirable situation, i.e., to be wholly dependent upon the economic health of the rest of the basin. An increase in the tourist business has played a large part in the increase in employment in the trades-and- services segment. Throughout the basin, greater emphasis is being placed upon attracting the tourist because tourism is an alternative to agriculture in the economic base. This "new industry" has probably the IllOSt potential for growth, and is expected to become increasingly important. A dependence of the majority of the people in the basin on the non-commodity sector has not been a total blessing. Historically, their wages have been below the Nation's average, and generally, the level of earnings per employee in the Missouri River Basin for 1960 and projected years is following the same pattern. The basin level of personal income per capita was 90.9 percent of