Employment Growth Among Sectors in the United States, Japan,

and Europe Based Upon Educational Attainment

Summary 98-7

July 1998

E

mployment growth in the United

States outpaced that of Japan and

Europe between 1980 and 1996.

The number of jobs in sectors requiring

higher levels of education grew at

roughly comparable rates in these

economies. Thus, differences in job

creation rates have often been driven by

differences in sectors requiring lower

levels of educational attainment.

In 1996, employment in the United

States was more than 27 percent greater

than in 1980. In Japan, employment

grew about 15 percent over the period,

while in the major economies of

Europe, (France, West Germany, Italy,

and the United Kingdom) there had

been little net increase—about 3

percent. (See table.) Employment

growth among these nations varied over

time, however, and there were important compositional differences in terms

of sectors.

In the United States, the period began

far less auspiciously than it ended. From

1981 to 1982, employment actually

dropped as a deep recession reached its

trough. The economy recovered in 1983,

and employment growth accelerated in

1984, then settled into a prolonged

upward movement. In 1991, the

economy again suffered job losses,

followed this time by 2 years of sluggish

growth before regaining a job growth

rate that resembled the rates prevailing

in the mid-1980s.

In Japan, there has been less

variability of economic performance.

There was no downturn of employment

in the early 1980s and the period of

moderate growth extended further into

the 1990s before flattening into a

prolonged period of sluggishness. In

Europe, downturns in the early 1980s

and 1990s were less abrupt but more

prolonged than those in the United

States. As of 1996, there was little

recovery in employment visible in the

aggregate of the four major European

economies.

One interesting dimension underlying

these comparative growth trends has

been the level of educational attainment

embodied in the jobs created. In the

United States from 1980 through 1996,

there was an annual rise of 2.6 percent

in economic sectors with high educational attainment—those in which 30

percent or more workers have college

degrees—and an annual rise of 0.9

percent in sectors with lower levels of

educational attainment. In Japan there

was a similar pattern, although both

growth rates were fractionally lower—

2.5 percent for higher-attainment

industries and 0.8 percent in lowerattainment sectors. (See chart.)

In Europe, there were somewhat

different developments. Although rates

of growth in sectors with higher educational attainment were somewhat lower

in all four major economies than in the

United States or Japan, the major

difference was not found among such

jobs. In all four of these nations, there

was an absolute decline in employment

in lower attainment sectors between

1980 and the mid-1990s. The number of

lower attainment sectors in the United

Kingdom, went down 0.7 percent per

Employment growth by higher and lower educational attainment sectors,

1980-96

Average annual percent change

2.6 2.5 2.3 2.2 2.3

1.8

0.9 0.8

-0.9

-0.1

-0.4 -0.7

-2

-1

0

1

2

3

4

5

United

States

Japan France West

Germany

Italy United

Kingdom

Higher Lower

 NOTE: Data refer to 1980-93 for France and West Germany. Breaks in series for the United

States are at 1990 and 1994. Higher educational attainment sectors comprise sectors where 30

percent or more of full-time workers have college degrees in the United States. Lower educational

attainment sectors comprise sectors where less than 30 percent of full-time workers have college

degrees in the United States.

 SOURCE: Bureau of Labor Statistics and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and

Development
year from 1980 to 1996, and declined 0.4

percent in Italy. In France and Germany, where comparable statistics are

available for 1980 through 1993,

employment in the lower-attainment

sectors fell by 0.9 percent and 0.1

percent per year, respectively.

As a result, the composition of

employment registered different

patterns of change across these

countries. In Europe (excluding West

Germany), the tilt toward sectors with

higher educational attainment was quite

pronounced. The patterns of composition showed marked increases, from

1980 to 1993 or 1996,of about 10

percentage points in the share of the

employed that worked in sectors having

higher concentrations of college

graduates.

1993 or

1980 1996

France 36.6 46.7 (1993)

United Kingdom 35.6 45.1 (1996)

Italy 27.8 36.9 (1996)

In the United States, Japan, and West

Germany, the tendency to increased share

of employment in industries requiring

higher educational attainment levels was

relatively muted. In the United States,

40.6 percent of the employed worked in

sectors with high educational attainment.

By 1996, this share was 47.4 percent. In

West Germany, high attainment sectors

accounted for 31.7 percent of employment

in 1980 and 38.2 percent in 1993, the

most recent year for which data are

available. In Japan, 28.2 percent of the

employed in 1980 were in high attainment sectors. By 1996, this share had

edged up to 33.9 percent, but Japan had

exchanged places with Italy at the

bottom of the table, despite having a

faster growth rate of jobs in highattainment sectors.

For additional information, call the

Office of Productivity and Technology,

Bureau of Labor Statistics (202) 606-

5654, or send e-mail requests to:

flshelp@bls.gov

This information is in the public

domain and, with appropriate credit,

may be reproduced without permission.

This information is available to sensory

impaired individuals upon request.

Voice phone: 606-7828; TDD phone:

(202) 606-5897; TDD message referral

phone: 1-800-326-2577.

Employment in the United States, Japan, and Europe1, 1980-96

(In thousands)

1980 ................................ 99,303 54,600 92,800

1981 ................................ 100,397 55,060 91,860

1982 ................................ 99,526 55,620 91,350

1983 ................................ 100,834 56,550 90,920

1984 ................................ 105,005 56,870 91,250

1985 ................................ 107,150 57,260 91,800

1986 ................................ 109,597 57,740 92,530

1987 ................................ 112,440 58,320 93,360

1988 ................................ 114,968 59,310 94,920

 1 France, West Germany, Italy, and the United Kingdom.

1989 ................................ 117,342 60,500 96,170

1990 ................................ 118,793 61,710 97,680

1991 ................................ 117,718 62,920 97,910

1992 ................................ 118,492 63,620 97,420

1993 ................................ 120,259 63,810 95,730

1994 ................................ 123,060 63,860 95,260

1995 ................................ 124,900 63,890 95,680

1996 ................................ 126,708 64,200 95,720

Year Japan Europe Year Japan Europe United

States

United

States