Report Brief
BLS Releases 2000-2010 Employment Projections
PURPOSE
This report was released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics and includes
projections for the American workforce covering the time period of 2000 to
2010. The BLS report is useful for planning in higher education, as it
provides information on 10-year projections of employment by industry and
occupation, labor force, and economic growth.
KEY POINTS FROM THE REPORT
Employment
- Over the 2000-2010 period, total employment is projected to
increase by 15%, slightly less than the 17% growth during the previous
decade, 1990-2000.
Industry Employment
- By 2010, the service-producing sector will add 20.5 million jobs
continuing to be the dominant employment sector in the economy. Within the
goods-producing sector, construction and durable manufacturing will
contribute relatively modest employment gains.
- Service-producing employment will increase by 19%, compared with only a
3% increase in manufacturing employment.
- Manufacturing employment will hold 19.1 million jobs, and its share of
total jobs will decline from 13% to 11% over the decade.
- Accounting for a large share of the fastest growing industries are
health services, business services, social services, engineering,
management, and related services. They will account for one out of every
two nonfarm wage and salary jobs added.
Occupational Employment
- Professional and related occupations are projected to add 7.0
million jobs, and service occupations 5.1 million jobs. Both groups are
projected to increase the fastest and will provide more than half the total
job growth.
- Transportation and material moving occupations are projected to grow
15%.
- Office automation and advances in manufacturing technology have
influenced a slower than average growth in the areas of office and
administrative occupations, and production occupations.
- Eight of the 10 fastest growing occupations are computer-related,
commonly refered to as information technology occupations.
Education and Training Categories
- Employment in all seven education or training categories that
generally require a college degree or other post secondary award is
projected to grow faster than the average across all occupations.
Accounting for 29% of all jobs in 2000, these categories will account for
42% of projected new job growth in the 2000-2010 period.
- The four categories requiring work-related training are projected to
grow more slowly than average, but would still add a substantial number of
jobs.
Labor Force
- The civilian work force will increase slightly, 12% compared with
the 11.9% from 1990-2000, and reach a projected 158 million.
- The demographic composition of the labor force is expected to change
because of changes in both the demographic composition of the population and
in the rates of workforce participation across demographic groups.
- For the first time in 25 years, the youth labor force (ages 16 to 24)
is projected to grow more rapidly than the overall labor force. However,
the median age of the labor force will continue to rise. Baby-boomers will
be between the ages of 46 to 64, in 2010 and continue to account for a
substantial share of the labor force.
- Labor participation rates for women will grow more rapidly than men's.
Women's share of the labor force will increase from 47% to 48% during the
period of 2000 to 2010.
- The following is a breakdown of the increasing growth in labor force
groups by race and ethnicity during the 2000 to 2010 period: Asian and other
(44%), Hispanic (36%), Black (21%), and White (9%).
- The following is a breakdown of the share of the labor force groups by
race and ethnicity during the 2000 to 2010 period: Asian and other will
increase from 5% to 6%, Hispanics will increase from 11% to 13%, and white
non-Hispanics will decrease from 73% to 69%.
RECOMMENDATIONS FOR PRACTICE
The report was a release of BLS employment projections and as a result
did not offer any recommendations for practice.
ADDITIONAL COMMENTS
The report includes a note that the BLS projections were completed prior
to the events of September 11, and the long-term impact of those events
remains unclear.
REFERENCE
Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2001, December). BLS releases 2000-2010
employment projections. Washington, DC: Author.
Submitted by R.M. Johnson, March 2004
This is a report summary and excerpts are quoted directly from the text.
