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Job Growth in the U.S.

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As we have noted in several recent Policy Briefs, job gains in the Pittsburgh metro area have been driven disproportionately by growth in the professional and business services sector, especially the technical sub sector. It turns out that recent private sector employment advances at the national level have been given a boost by professional and business services.

Although this sector makes up 16 percent of total jobs, it has accounted for a third of the national job gains over the last twelve months, rising 668,000 while total private employment climbed 2,190,000. Job gains were well distributed among the subcategories of the professional and business service sector.

Interestingly, the health and education sector that has been credited with stability and responsible for a significant share of employment growth in recent years managed a rise of only 337,000 jobs and accounted for just 15 percent of total job growth, even though the sector represents nearly 20 percent of private sector employment. The sector has definitely plateaued in terms of year over increases. It appears that the sector’s job expansion is virtually independent of the state of the economy.

Worth noting is that the rise in leisure and hospitality employment over the last twelve months at 404,000 was actually greater than the health and education component’s pickup. Also noteworthy was the 282,000 upturn in retail jobs.  Goods producing employment climbed 243,000 to be the fifth largest component of overall growth—still quite modest given the size of total employment in goods producing industries.

Unfortunately, the Information and Utilities sectors continued their years long weakness and remain below their four year ago levels.

One wonders how long the Professional and business sector and leisure and hospitality can maintain their well above long term trend growth paths and if some other sectors will step up to become the new leaders in employment expansion.

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Allegheny Institute
Allegheny Institute

The Allegheny Institute is a non-profit research and education organization. Our mission is to defend the interests of taxpayers, citizens and businesses against an increasingly burdensome and intrusive government.

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