December 11, 2001 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)

Youth segment of labor force to grow fastest

The overall annual growth rate of the labor force is projected to be 1.1 percent from 2000 to 2010, the same as between 1990 and 2000. However, the growth rates for particular age groups are expected to change.

[Chart data—TXT]

With a projected annual growth rate of 1.4 percent, the 16- to 24-age labor force is expected to grow much more rapidly than in 1990-2000, when the growth rate was only 0.1 percent.

The 55-and-over age group is projected to grow by 0.9 percent annually, after growing by 1.9 percent annually in 1990-2000. The labor force group consisting of those ages 25 to 54 is expected to increase at a rate of 0.5 percent, following a growth rate of 1.2 percent in between 1990 and 2000.

Data on labor force participation are from the Current Population Survey. Projections are from the Employment Projections program. Find out more about labor force projections in "Labor force projections to 2010: steady growth and changing composition," by Howard N Fullerton, Jr. and Mitra Toossi, Monthly Labor Review, November 2001. (The BLS employment projections for the period 2000-2010 were completed prior to the tragic events of September 11, 2001. BLS will continue to review its projections and, as the long-term consequences of September 11 become clearer, will incorporate these effects in subsequent analyses of industrial and occupational outlook.)