Employment in Public Utilities--Employment in public utilities constitutes approximately 9% of the total civilian non-agricultural employment. This occupational group is extremely important because of the key role of transportation, communication and local utilities in the state. About one-half of these workers are employed in taxicab service, local transit service, telephone and telegraph service, radio broadcasting and television service, electric, gas, water and sanitary service utilities. Half of the workers included in this category consist of railroad and water transportation workers. Employment in Construction Activities--Approximately 7% of the total civilian non-agricultural employment is concerned with construction. More than three-fourths of all construction during the past decade has been for private use, approximately half of this construction involving private residences. The tremendous increase in the population of Virginia during the past twenty years has caused the rate of private residential building to be higher than that for the entire nation. Privately-owned public utility buildings, public highways and private non-residential buildings rank high in kinds of construction projects undertaken. [Illustration: VIRGINIA STATE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE _A Modern Manufacturing Plant_] Employment in Finance--Finance, including bank, insurance and real estate activity, affects all geographical areas of the state but, in terms of numbers, these activities are primarily located in or near urban centers. Approximately 7% of the civilian non-agricultural employees are so engaged. Employment in Mining Operations--Approximately 2% of the total civilian non-agricultural employees in Virginia are engaged in mining. More than 80% of Virginia's mining employment is in bituminous coal which is the chief mining product of the nation as a whole. Virginia furnishes approximately 3% of the total annual output of this product in the United States. Such mining is extremely important in Buchanan and Dickenson Counties where more than half of all the civilian employees are miners. Pocahontas, Big Stone Gap, Dante and Tazewell have huge bituminous coal mines. Stone quarrying rates second in mining employment. Crushed stone granite quarries are found in Roanoke, Richmond, Fredericksburg, Red Hill and Leesburg and crushed limestone quarries are found in Kimballton, Riverton, Leesburg, Stephens City and Buchanan. Employment in crude petroleum, natural gas and in metal mining, which accounts for one-third of the nation's total mining employment, is less than 3% of Virginia's total mining employment.