|
 The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics' employment projections for 2012
to 2022 released on Thursday said the United States will see nearly
16 million jobs added in that decade.
Even with this increase, growth in the civilian labor force is
expected to slow to 0.5 percent annually in the next decade. That
would be down from the 0.7 percent annual increase between 2002 and
2012, and potentially hurt economic growth.
Slower growth in the labor force could reduce the increase in gross
domestic product to 2.6 percent annually from 2012 to 2022, compared
with the at least 3-percent annual growth in the last two decades,
BLS said.
The slowdown in U.S. labor growth is partly due to declining birth
rates and low international immigration rates, both needed to
sustain the country's population growth.
A large number of baby boomers are expected to retire from the
workforce in the next 10 years, as they will be between 58 and 76
years old in 2022. The U.S. civilian labor force will be older and
more ethnically diverse in 2022, BLS predicts.
Jobs in the healthcare and social assistance sector are projected to
have the fastest growth, adding about 5 million jobs by 2022, a 13.6
percent increase, followed by a 13.3 percent increase for
professional and business services, and 12.4 percent increase for
state and local government jobs.
[to top of second column] |
The spike in healthcare jobs will coincide with an increase in
healthcare needs for aging baby boomers and the expansion of health
insurance coverage.
BLS also projects faster growth for jobs that require at least
postsecondary education. Workers with a post secondary education or
more earned a median of $57,770 in 2012 compared with $27,670 for
jobs requiring a high school diploma.
The construction sector, which took a hit during the economic
downturn, is also poised for rapid growth, adding 1.6 million jobs
by 2022, but still will not return to its pre-recession highs.
Employment is expected to decline in manufacturing, federal
government, agriculture, information and the utilities industries.
(Reporting by Elvina Nawaguna; editing
by Bob Burgdorfer)
[© 2013 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2013 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
 |
