| Wally-World is still WVs biggest private employer, with other service-sector and health-care jobs leading the pack.
Wal-Mart has been at the top of the list since the state began compiling the rankings in 1999, while CAMC and WVU Hospitals have shared the second and third slots.
The rankings were released yesterday by the Workforce Investment program.
Manufacturing and the primary-metals industries are going down, while health-care and service suppliers are growing.
The energy industry has been gaining some. American Electric Power Co. jumped from seventh-biggest to sixth this year, while Consolidation Coal Co. went from 11th to 8th.
In WV the private sector employs about 605,700 in the state, while the state and federal government account for 140,100 jobs.
The days of "King Coal" being among the state's biggest employers is long gone, with the advancement of mining extraction equipment and mountaintop removal.
The state is by far the biggest single employer.
TOP 20
Here are West Virginia's biggest private employers, with last year's ranking in parentheses, as ranked by Workforce West Virginia:
1. Wal-Mart Associates Inc. (1)
2. Charleston Area Medical Center Inc. (2)
3. West Virginia University Hospitals (3)
4. Kroger Co. (4)
5. CSX / CSX Hotels Inc. (5)
6. American Electric Power Co. (7)
7. E I DuPont De Nemours & Co. (8)
8. Consolidation Coal Co. (11)
9. Verizon Communications Corp. (9)
10. ISG Weirton Inc. (6)
11. St. Mary's Hospital (12)
12. Pilgrim's Pride Corp. of West Virginia (13)
13. Wheeling Hospital, Inc. (14)
14. Eldercare Resources Corp. (15)
15. Rite Aid of West Virginia Inc. (16)
16. Lowe's Home Centers Inc. (18)
17. Cabell Huntington Hospital Inc. (19)
18. Allegheny Energy Service Corp. (10)
19. Bob Evans Farms Inc. (20)
20. Mylan Pharmaceuticals Inc. (24)
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