April 13, 1999 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)
1998 services industry job growth
strong, but still off 1993-97 average
The services major industry division accounted
for 1.4 million of the nearly 2.6 million nationwide employment gain in the private sector
during 1998. However, the 3.8-percent employment increase in services was down from the
industry’s average increase of 4.5 percent from 1993 to 1997.
[Chart data—TXT]
Of the 15 more specific industries within services, 10 reported lower rates of job
growth in 1998 than their 1993-97 annual averages. Among the 10 were motion pictures
services (0.9 percent in 1998, compared with 6.6 percent annually from 1993-97), business
services (6.0 percent, compared with 8.5 percent), and health services (1.5 percent,
compared with 2.7 percent).
Employment growth rates substantially exceeded 1993-97 annual averages in engineering
and management services (7.3 percent in 1998, compared with 4.4 percent annually from
1993-97), legal services (3.8 percent, compared with 0.9 percent), and amusement and
recreation services (7.5 percent, compared with 5.9 percent).
These data are a product of the Current Employment
Statistics program. More
information is available from "Job growth slows during crises overseas," Monthly Labor Review,
February 1999. The employment changes in this article are based on the change in
seasonally adjusted employment data from the fourth quarter of 1997 to the fourth quarter
of 1998.
Of interest
Spotlight on Statistics: National Hispanic Heritage Month
In this Spotlight, we take a look at the Hispanic labor force—including labor force participation, employment and unemployment, educational attainment, geographic location, country of birth, earnings, consumer expenditures, time use, workplace injuries, and employment projections.
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Read more »