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Economic Diversification A deliberate plan by business leaders to diversify the area's economy away from its traditional dependence on iron and steel has been successful. Birmingham's 36,392 businesses make it a center for finance, health care, education, manufacturing, research, engineering, transportation, construction, and distribution. The success of this diversification is seen in the per capita income: in 1970, workers in the Birmingham MSA earned 86% of the average U.S. per capita income; in 1997, Birmingham workers earned 99%. In 1999, 11,900 jobs were created, and the unemployment rate averaged 2.8%, well below the Alabama rate of 4.4% and the U.S. rate of 4.2%. Service industries employed 82% of the work force with 9% of all Birmingham workers employed in health care. Manufacturing employed 11% of the work force and is concentrated in durable goods, especially primary metals.
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