Abstract
The branch structure of industry reflects the distribution of live and materialized labor by production branches, the level of social division of labor that has been achieved. In capitalist countries it is formed as a result of the shifts of capital from one branch to another in the pursuit of higher rates of profit. So far as this pursuit is connected with an increase in the organic and technical structure of capital, changes in the branch structure are due to technical progress and lead to higher social labor productivity. Study of the U.S. branch structure makes it possible to establish the most significant trends in the development of technology and their influence on the branch structure of industry.