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5 out of 20 fastest-growing industries from 2019 to 2029 are in healthcare and social assistance

September 04, 2020

Employment is projected to grow from 162.8 million to 168.8 million over the 2019–29 decade, an increase of 6.0 million jobs. This reflects an annual growth rate of 0.4 percent, slower than the 2009–19 annual growth rate of 1.3 percent.

Five out of the 20 industries projected to grow the fastest from 2019 to 2029 are in healthcare and social assistance, the fastest growing industry in the economy. Factors that are expected to contribute to the large increase include increased demand from caring for the aging baby-boom population, longer life expectancies, and continued growth in the number of patients with chronic conditions.

 Annual rate of change and net change in employment for fastest growing and declining industries, projected 2019 to 2029
Industry Annual rate of change Net change 2029 employment Industry sector

Forestry

3.7% 3,500 11,500 Agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting

Individual and family services

3.4 1,052,600 3,663,900 Health care and social assistance

Support activities for mining

2.8 111,100 454,200 Mining

Home health care services

2.6 456,000 1,983,400 Health care and social assistance

Outpatient care centers

2.6 276,600 1,239,600 Health care and social assistance

Other personal services

2.4 97,100 454,400 Other services

Computer systems design and related services

2.3 574,500 2,776,700 Professional and business services

Offices of other health practitioners

2.2 239,000 1,207,800 Health care and social assistance

Grantmaking and giving services and social advocacy organizations

2.2 99,400 518,200 Other services

Management, scientific, and technical consulting services

2.0 334,200 1,865,300 Professional and business services

Other educational services

2.0 175,100 992,000 Educational services

Independent artists, writers, and performers

1.9 11,000 64,100 Leisure and hospitality

Software publishers

1.9 94,300 555,300 Information

Office administrative services

1.7 98,700 624,800 Professional and business services

Museums, historical sites, and similar institutions

1.6 29,800 202,700 Leisure and hospitality

Other ambulatory health care services

1.6 53,300 366,900 Health care and social assistance

Animal food manufacturing

1.6 10,800 74,800 Manufacturing

Metal ore mining

1.5 6,800 48,600 Mining

Couriers and messengers

1.4 126,300 942,100 Transportation and warehousing

Commercial and industrial machinery and equipment (except automotive and electronic) repair and maintenance

1.4 33,300 252,900 Other services

Other transportation equipment manufacturing

-1.7 -5,700 29,600 Manufacturing

Lessors of nonfinancial intangible assets (except copyrighted works)

-1.7 -3,700 19,600 Financial activities

Coal mining

-1.7 -8,300 43,600 Mining

Other fabricated metal product manufacturing

-1.7 -44,200 237,400 Manufacturing

Seafood product preparation and packaging

-1.8 -6,000 29,300 Manufacturing

Railroad rolling stock manufacturing

-1.9 -4,300 19,800 Manufacturing

Printing and related support activities

-2.1 -82,300 342,300 Manufacturing

Wired telecommunications carriers

-2.1 -100,200 419,300 Information

Office furniture (including fixtures) manufacturing

-2.5 -24,700 86,200 Manufacturing

Clay product and refractory manufacturing

-2.8 -9,400 29,200 Manufacturing

Consumer goods rental and general rental centers

-2.9 -45,200 131,700 Financial activities

Cement and concrete product manufacturing

-3.3 -57,100 141,900 Manufacturing

Travel arrangement and reservation services

-3.5 -66,000 153,500 Professional and business services

Communications equipment manufacturing

-3.6 -25,500 58,000 Manufacturing

Apparel, leather and allied product manufacturing

-3.7 -43,500 94,200 Manufacturing

Federal electric utilities

-3.8 -4,800 10,100 Federal government

Electric lighting equipment manufacturing

-3.9 -15,200 30,800 Manufacturing

Newspaper, periodical, book, and directory publishers

-4.0 -99,200 199,300 Information

Cable and other subscription programming

-4.8 -20,700 32,300 Information

Tobacco manufacturing

-5.2 -4,700 6,700 Manufacturing

Manufacturing is projected to lose 444,800 jobs from 2019 to 2029, more than any other industry. Manufacturing contains 12 of the 20 industries projected to have the most rapid employment declines. Factors contributing to the loss of manufacturing jobs include the adoption of new productivity-enhancing technologies, such as robotics and international competition.

Healthcare occupations and those associated with healthcare (including mental health) account for most of the 20 fastest growing occupations from 2019 to 2029. Nurse practitioners, occupational therapy assistants, and physician assistants, are projected to increase by at least 30 percent over that period, as team-based healthcare models are increasingly used to deliver healthcare services.

 Net and percent change in employment for fastest growing and declining occupations, projected 2019 to 2029
Occupation Percent change Net change 2029 employment

Wind turbine service technicians

60.7% 4,300 11,300

Nurse practitioners

52.4 110,700 322,000

Solar photovoltaic installers

50.5 6,100 18,100

Occupational therapy assistants

34.6 16,300 63,500

Statisticians

34.6 14,800 57,500

Home health and personal care aides

33.7 1,159,500 4,599,200

Physical therapist assistants

32.6 32,200 130,900

Medical and health services managers

31.5 133,200 555,500

Physician assistants

31.3 39,300 164,800

Information security analysts

31.2 40,900 171,900

Data scientists and mathematical science occupations, all other

30.9 10,300 43,400

Derrick operators, oil and gas

30.5 3,700 15,700

Rotary drill operators, oil and gas

26.9 5,600 26,600

Roustabouts, oil and gas

25.1 14,700 73,100

Speech-language pathologists

24.9 40,500 203,100

Operations research analysts

24.8 26,100 131,300

Substance abuse, behavioral disorder, and mental health counselors

24.7 79,000 398,400

Forest fire inspectors and prevention specialists

24.3 500 2,800

Cooks, restaurant

23.1 327,300 1,744,600

Animal caretakers

22.9 68,800 369,500

Grinding and polishing workers, hand

-19.5 -5,600 23,400

Door-to-door sales workers, news and street vendors, and related workers

-20.0 -14,600 58,300

Floral designers

-20.1 -10,400 41,400

Executive secretaries and executive administrative assistants

-20.4 -121,100 472,400

Prepress technicians and workers

-20.7 -6,300 24,000

Forging machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic

-21.1 -3,500 13,000

Postmasters and mail superintendents

-21.9 -2,900 10,500

Legal secretaries and administrative assistants

-22.1 -38,000 133,800

Manufactured building and mobile home installers

-22.3 -600 2,200

Timing device assemblers and adjusters

-22.3 -300 1,000

Switchboard operators, including answering service

-22.5 -15,700 54,100

Electronic equipment installers and repairers, motor vehicles

-23.2 -2,400 8,000

Data entry keyers

-24.6 -42,400 130,000

Travel agents

-25.9 -21,300 60,800

Telephone operators

-27.9 -1,400 3,600

Cutters and trimmers, hand

-29.9 -2,900 6,900

Watch and clock repairers

-32.3 -1,000 2,100

Nuclear power reactor operators

-35.7 -1,900 3,400

Parking enforcement workers

-36.2 -2,900 5,200

Word processors and typists

-36.4 -19,200 33,500

Computer occupations, such as information security analysts, are expected to see fast job growth. This is due to new product development associated with the Internet of Things (IoT).

Technological changes facilitating automation and e-commerce are expected to result in declining employment for office and administrative support occupations, such as word processors and typists (−36.4 percent), data entry keyers (−24.6 percent), and legal secretaries and administrative assistants (−22.1 percent).

These data are from the BLS Employment Projections program. Additional information about these and many other occupations may be found in the Occupational Outlook Handbook or "Employment Projections — 2019–29."

SUGGESTED CITATION

Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, The Economics Daily, 5 out of 20 fastest-growing industries from 2019 to 2029 are in healthcare and social assistance at https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2020/5-out-of-20-fastest-growing-industries-from-2019-to-2029-are-in-healthcare-and-social-assistance.htm (visited March 28, 2024).

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