Jobs related to the healthcare industry are projected to be among the fastest growing in the country through 2022 estimates the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
In its employment projections for 2012 to 2022, released Thursday, the BLS projected that the healthcare and social assistance sector will grow at an annual rate of 2.6 percent in that time period – adding 5 million jobs – which accounts for nearly one-third of the 15.6 million total projected jobs.
[See also: Healthcare jobs rebound]
In its report, BLS said the growth in the sector reflects, in part, “the demand for healthcare workers to address the needs of an aging population.” The second and third fastest growing occupations are personal care and home health aides, each expected to grow nearly 50 percent. (The fastest growing occupation is projected to be industrial/organizational psychologists with 53.4 percent growth.)
Fourteen of the 30 occupations projected to grow the fastest are related to healthcare. In addition to personal care and home health aides, those occupations include diagnostic medical sonographers (46 percent growth); physician assistants (38 percent growth); and nurse practitioners (nearly 34 percent growth).
Healthcare jobs account for six of the top 10 of the 30 occupations projected to have the most job growth: personal care aides (48.8 percent growth); registered nurses (19.4 percent); home health aides (48.5 percent); and nursing assistants (21 percent).
Among the occupations projected to have the largest number of job openings because of growth and replacement needs are registered nurses, personal care aides, nursing assistants, home health aides and licensed practical and licensed vocational nurses.
Of the major industries examined by the BLS, five – manufacturing, the federal government, agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting, information, and utilities – are projected to have employment decreases.
From an overall employment perspective, the BLS said that projected declines in the participation rates of men and women in the labor force will slow labor force growth, which has the potential to limit the country’s economic growth.