According to the table, which profession is expected to lose the highest percentage of jobs?

A. Postal service mail carriers
B. Data entry keyers
C. Sewing machine operators
D. Postal service clerks

\[
\begin{tabular}{|l|l|l|l|l|l|}
\hline
& \textbf{2019 Employment (in thousands)} & \textbf{2029 Employment (in thousands)} & \textbf{Numeric Change (in thousands)} & \textbf{Percent Change} & \textbf{Median Annual Wage} \\
\hline
Farmers, ranchers, and other agricultural managers & 930.6 & 750.7 & -179.9 & -19.3\% & \$69,300 \\
\hline
Postal service mail carriers & 295.1 & 215.8 & -79.2 & -26.8\% & \$56,490 \\
\hline
Data entry keyers & 220.3 & 166.1 & -54.2 & -24.6\% & \$28,010 \\
\hline
Sewing machine operators & 161.4 & 119.7 & -41.7 & -25.8\% & \$21,270 \\
\hline
Postal service mail sorters, processors, and processing machine operators & 129.6 & 91.0 & -38.6 & -29.8\% & \$53,090 \\
\hline
Farmworkers and laborers, crop, nursery, and greenhouse & 596.8 & 567.6 & -29.2 & -4.9\% & \$18,670 \\
\hline
Word processors and typists & 104.4 & 78.2 & -26.2 & -25.1\% & \$35,270 \\
\hline
Postal service clerks & 66.9 & 45.7 & -21.3 & -31.8\% & \$53,090 \\
\hline
\end{tabular}
\]

We need to determine which of the following professions loses the highest percentage of jobs. The options and their corresponding percentages from the table are:

- Postal service mail carriers: [tex]$-26.8\%$[/tex]
- Data entry keyers: [tex]$-24.6\%$[/tex]
- Sewing machine operators: [tex]$-25.8\%$[/tex]
- Postal service clerks: [tex]$-31.8\%$[/tex]

Since a loss is represented by a negative value, the greatest job loss corresponds to the most negative percentage. Comparing the percentages:

[tex]$$-26.8\%,\quad -24.6\%,\quad -25.8\%,\quad -31.8\%$$[/tex]

We see that [tex]$-31.8\%$[/tex] is the smallest (i.e., the most negative) value. Therefore, the profession with the highest percentage loss in jobs is:

[tex]$$\textbf{Postal service clerks}.$$[/tex]