In 1997, the value of shipments by Mississippi manufacturers totaled $41 billion. The state's biggest manufacturing concern is Litton Industries' Ingalls shipyard at Pascagoula. In addition to merchant vessels, this yard builds US Navy ships, including nuclear-powered submarines. In 1997, Mississippi was the headquarters for one Fortune 500 company, Worldcom.
Earnings of persons employed in Mississippi increased from $34.5 billion in 1997 to $36.7 billion in 1998, an increase of 6.5%. The largest industries in 1998 were services, 23.2% of earnings; state and local government, 13.7%; and durable goods manufacturing, 13.5%. Of the industries that accounted for at least 5% of earnings in 1998, the slowest growing from 1997 to 1998 was nondurable goods manufacturing (8.3% of earnings in 1998), which increased 1.8%; the fastest was services, which increased 7.9%.