CHARLESTON, W.Va. — A national retailer is no longer the state’s largest employer.
Walmart is the second largest employer in the state for the first time since 1998.
WVU Medicine, formerly West Virginia United Health System, employs the most workers in the state according to WorkForce West Virginia’s March 2016 data.
The exact employment numbers are not released to maintain employer confidentiality.
But, according to information from the first quarter of 2016, the state’s top five largest private employers are WVU Medicine, Wal-Mart, Charleston Area Medical Center, Kroger and Mylan Pharmaceuticals.
WVU Medicine and Wal-Mart swapped positions on the list while the remaining three employers held the same rankings from 2015.
There have been some position changes in the next five largest employers.
Lowe’s Home Centers is sixth followed by St. Mary’s Medical Center, Cabell Huntington Hospital, Wheeling Hospital and Res-Care, Inc.
WorkForce WV indicated the top 10 employers in the state had 4,395 more people working for them than in 2015.
Fourteen employers that had never made the top 100 list before are on the 2016 list.