According to the latest labor data from the US government, as the US population ages and the incidence of chronic diseases such as heart disease, cancer, and diabetes increases, it is expected that millions of new jobs in the healthcare and social assistance sectors will be created in the next decade.
The US Department of Labor predicts that from 2025 to 2035, employment in this industry will grow by 9.5%, adding 2.2 million new jobs. The agency estimates that this will account for about 37% of all new jobs added in the US during the same period.
Based on the latest government agency forecasts, driven by the surge in energy demand brought about by the development of artificial intelligence, the fastest-growing industry in the United States in the next decade is expected to be the utilities sector. The Labor Department expects this industry to expand by 9.8% by 2035. However, due to the relatively small overall size of the utilities industry, this growth is projected to add only about 58,800 new jobs in the next decade.
Due to the increasing demand for artificial intelligence systems and tools, coupled with the thriving research and development activities in the field of artificial intelligence, it is also expected to create nearly 927,000 new jobs in the science and technology services sector.
Breyon Williams, Chief Economist of the labor market at the economic think tank and advocacy organization Groundwork Collaborative, told CBS News, “Many of the nearly one million jobs are related to the demand for artificial intelligence. This includes positions such as software developers, consultants, and engineers.”
According to a new forecast by the Department of Labor, healthcare occupations dominate among the top 20 fastest-growing occupations by 2035. Salaries are in US dollars.
Although the growth in demand for artificial intelligence is expected to boost employment in some industries, economists point out that AI will also weaken the labor demand in administrative positions and industries such as retail.
Williams, in interpreting the latest employment projections from the Department of Labor, said, “It is expected that approximately 752,000 administrative positions, including office clerks, customer service representatives, and secretaries, will decrease in the next decade. This is not surprising. The overall situation is mixed: AI brings new job growth while also causing expected job losses in some areas.”
The Labor Department also notes that the application of AI may suppress the demand for some positions in the arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media industries.
Over the next decade, from 2025 to 2035, federal government positions are expected to decrease by 3.4%.
Despite overall employment in the US expected to grow by 3.5% from 2025 to 2035, the latest forecasts from the Labor Department show that there will still be 20 occupations that will shrink in the next decade, with some positions seeing a reduction of over a quarter. These changes highlight the profound impact of technological advancements, automation, and industry restructuring on labor demand.