Occupational employment projections to 2022

Total employment in the U.S. economy is projected to grow by 15.6 million during the 2012–2022 decade to reach 161 million; this represents a 10.8-percent employment increase. Some of the fastest projected growth will occur in the healthcare, healthcare support, construction, and personal care fields. Together, these four occupational groups are expected to account for about one-third—more than 5.3 million—of all new jobs during this period.

BLS projections are intended to represent long-term structural changes in the economy. For example, the healthcare field is growing because of the long-term trends of an aging population and improved diagnosing and treatment options.

However, occupations in some fields are growing quickly as they recover from the 2007–2009 recession. These occupations' starting employment levels were unusually low, resulting in higher growth rates than historically seen in these occupations as they return to long-term trends by 2022. Many construction occupations are experiencing this type of growth.

BLS categorizes detailed occupations in 22 major occupational groups using the 2010 Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) system. Occupations in each group share similar duties or goals; for example, legal occupations include lawyers, judges, and support workers in the legal field. Eight of these occupational groups are projected to each add at least 1 million jobs.Healthcare practitioners and technical occupations are projected to add the most: 1.7 million. Only one group of occupations is projected to decline: farming, fishing, and forestry occupations. With fewer than a million jobs in 2012, this group is already the smallest of the occupational groups and is projected to shrink 3.4 percent, shedding 32,200 jobs.

Occupations can be classified by the level of education typically needed for entry-level positions. While BLS does not make projections by education level, the Monthly Labor Review article analyzes the educational assignments for each occupation to estimate projected growth by education level. Employment projections for different education levels are built from the occupational projections by adding together the projected employments of occupations that have the same education levels. Looking at growth by education provides insight into opportunities for workers with various levels of educational attainment.