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Projections of industry employment, 2014–24

December 2015

Knowing which industries are projected to grow or decline helps jobseekers make more informed career decisions. The charts in this article show employment change in particular industries between 2014 and 2024 as projected by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).

Workers are grouped into an industry according to the type of goods produced or service provided by the business for which they work. For example, all workers in a school are part of the educational services industry, regardless of their specific job duties. The educational services industry includes teachers and other workers—such as office managers and janitors—who have administrative tasks or a support role.

The charts also show projections by major industry sector and detailed industry. Industry employment projections are shown in terms of numeric change (growth or decline in the total number of jobs) and percent change (the rate of job growth or decline) over the 2014–24 decade. The average growth rate of 7 percent for all wage and salary workers is shown as a dotted vertical line in charts 1 and 3.  

In most of the charts, industries are categorized into one of two groups: providing services or producing goods. Service-providing industries are projected to account for the most job growth between 2014 and 2024, adding about 9.3 million jobs. In goods-producing industries, employment is projected to decline slightly, with a loss of 20,000 jobs over the decade. 

(For more information on how we develop the projections, read about our methodology.)

Growth by major industry sector

To illustrate general employment trends, these charts show employment growth in broad groups of similar industries. Industries shown in the charts are defined primarily according to the 2012 North American Industry Classification System (NAICS), which the federal government uses to sort establishments into industry categories.

The healthcare and social assistance sector is projected to have the fastest job growth. (See chart 1.)

Together, the healthcare and social assistance and the professional and business services sectors are projected to add more jobs than all other sectors combined. (See chart 2.)

Growth by detailed industry

BLS projects employment for 206 detailed industries. Those projected to have the most growth or decline are highlighted in these charts. Some industries with fast rates of growth have a relatively small number of workers, as is the case for those that provide financial services such as establishing funds, trusts, and other financial vehicles. These small, fast-growing industries may not offer as many new jobs as some larger industries that are projected to grow more slowly, such as state and local government.

As chart 3 shows, the fastest growing industries are projected to be concentrated in those that provide services.

The construction industry is expected to gain the most jobs. (See chart 4.) Employment in this sector still has not fully rebounded from the loss of jobs during the last recession.

Of the industries projected to lose the most jobs, more than half are in the manufacturing sector. (See chart 5.)