Winter 2003-04 Vol. 47, Number 4

Industry employment

BLS develops employment projections for 184
specific industries and several industry groupings. An industry includes all of the establishments that provide a particular type of good or service.

Like occupational projections, industry employment projections are shown in terms of numeric change (change in the total number of jobs) and percent change (the rate of job growth or decline). But unlike employment totals in the other charts, employment totals shown in this section cover only wage-and-salary workers and do not include self-employed or unpaid family workers. Wage-and-salary employment growth is projected to average 16 percent. That average is shown as a vertical line on charts presenting percent change.

As discussed in the introduction to this special issue of the Quarterly, job growth or decline in some industries significantly affects particular occupations. The educational services industry, for example, employed 78 percent of educational, vocational, and school counselors in 2002, so the large employment increase in the industry explains the high growth of the occupation. Most occupations, however—from human resources managers to receptionists and information clerks—are employed across many industries.