U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

Employment Projections

What we do not have

Earnings and wage rate projections
Inflation projections
Short-term forecasts
Lists of colleges or sources of other training, but see America's Career InfoNet
Jobs available, but see America's Career InfoNet
Regional, State, and area projections>
BLS does not prepare regional, state, nor sub-state projections. However, most States do prepare occupational employment projections, which are available at http://www.projectionscentral.com. Contact information for State labor market information offices is available at http://www.bls.gov/bls/ofolist.htm.
Self-assessment inventories and other career exploration tools
The US Department of Labor's Occupational Information Network (O*NET^TM) team has designed a set of self-assessment career exploration tools to help workers consider and plan career options, preparation, and transitions more effectively. Students who want to explore school-to-work transitions also can use these tools. For more information, go to http://www.onetcenter.org/tools.html
Employment projections by size of firm
BLS does not develop employment projections by size of firm. However, in December 2005, new data on Business Employment Dynamics (BED) by firm size were introduced by BLS. These data show how large firms, small firms, or both are creating or losing jobs in the economy. For more information on BED on firms by size class, see http://www.bls.gov/bdm/
Projections of the number of retirees or the average age of retirement
BLS does not develop projections of the number of retirees nor of the average age of retirement. BLS has published articles on the changing retirement age in the Monthly Labor Review.
Projections of the number of unfilled jobs
BLS does not develop projections of unfilled jobs. A number of articles have incorrectly reported that BLS employment and labor force projections indicate that there will be more jobs than workers to fill them. BLS does project both the number of employed persons, the number of jobs, and replacement needs. Because many people have more than one job, the number of jobs exceeds the number of employed persons even before replacement needs are considered.

Last Modified Date: February 1, 2012