Occupational employment projections to 2008 (EXCERPT), Monthly Labor Review Online, Nov. 1999

Occupational employment projections to 2008

Douglas Braddock

Note: projections for 1998-2008 have been superseded by projections for 2000-10

Total employment is projected to increase by 20.3 million jobs over the 1998–2008 period, rising from 140.5 million to 160.8 million, according to the latest projections of the Bureau of Labor Statistics. (See box on page 4 in the article by Charles Bowman.) The projected 14.4-percent change in employment is less than the 17.1-percent increase attained during the previous 10-year period, 1988-98, when the economy added 20.5 million jobs.¹

The economy will continue generating jobs for workers at all levels of education and training, although growth rates are projected to be faster, on average, for occupations requiring at least an associate degree than for occupations requiring less training. However, most job growth will be in occupations requiring less formal education or training, even though many of these occupations are projected to have below-average growth rates. There also will be numerous job openings resulting from the need to replace workers who leave the labor force or move to other occupations.

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Footnotes
1 Occupational projections presented in this article provide information to those interested in labor market issues. They also provide the background for analyses of future employment opportunities described in the forthcoming 2000–01 Occupational Outlook Handbook, BLS Bulletin 2520. Job outlook information in the 2000–01 Handbook, scheduled for release in early 2000, will use the projections presented in each of the articles that make up Employment Outlook: 1998–2008. For a description of the methodology used to develop employment projections, see BLS Handbook of Methods, Bulletin 2490 (Bureau of Labor Statistics, April 1997), pp. 122–29.

The quality of BLS projections: a historical account.—May 1999
Employment outlook: 1996-2006.—Nov. 1997.: BLS projections to 2006--a summary.; Industry output and employment projections to 2006.; Labor force 2006: slowing down and changing composition.; Occupational employment projections to 2006.; The U.S. economy to 2006.

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