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What is this indicator and 

why is it important?

Employment attributable to forests (including both forestbased and forest-related employment) is one measure 

of the social and economic importance of forests. 

Employment is a tangible and widely understood measure 

of economic activity and related social well-being. 

This indicator reports employment levels for the forest 

products sector, represented by activity in forestry and 

logging, and the wood products and paper products 

sectors, as supplied by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics 

(2021).

The report’s focus on the forest products sector is 

determined by the availability of nationally consistent 

statistics for these categories. It is essential to remember 

that these statistics do not encompass the total of 

employment associated with forests. Numerous and 

substantial forest-related employment categories are not 

covered by the statistics presented here; these categories 

are briefly discussed in the “Why can’t the entire indicator 

be reported at this time?” section at the end of this 

indicator report. Nonetheless, employment in the forest 

products sector, as defined by reporting agencies, is a 

long-standing and important measure of the economic 

contribution of forests, particularly in rural areas.

What does the indicator 

show?

Figure 36-1 shows employment levels in the forestry and 

logging, wood products, and paper products sectors since 

1990 (numerical data is supplied in table 36-1). These data 

show a long-term declining trend in overall employment 

that is complicated by cyclical fluctuations, particularly in 

the wood products sector—a sector that is strongly linked 

to homebuilding and other construction and is subject to 

relatively large swings in activity. 

Technology development and resulting gains in labor 

productivity (i.e., the amount of output that can be 

produced by a given worker) are important factors 

underlying the long-term employment declines. Although 

the total volume of industrial roundwood production 

and production of wood and paper products have also 

declined over the same period (see Indicator 6.25), those 

declines were only one-third to half the decline observed 

in employment, which supports this conclusion regarding 

the effect of labor productivity. Productivity gains are 

generally seen as positive developments because they 

provide greater contributions to economic well-being 

throughout the economy, but they can also result in 

concentrated economic distress, particularly in rural 

areas with high dependence on production activities 

affected by consolidation and declining local employment 

opportunities.

Indicator 6.36

Employment in the forest products sector, 

2020

Guy C. Robertson and Jamille St. Hilaire

January 2024 | FS-1217-Indicator-6.36
2

What has changed since 

2010?

The trend in total employment in the 2010–2020 period 

demonstrates a modest increase (1 percent, see table 

36-1), but this has resulted mainly from the rebound of 

the wood products sector, following sharp declines in the 

late 2000s resulting from the major recession around 

2008 and the related collapse in the housing market. 

Paper production continues to decline, likely the result 

of the development of digital technology and related 

decrease in the consumption of office paper. Increased 

consumption of packaging and shipping papers serve to 

mitigate declines in the paper sector to some extent, but 

the underlying effect of productivity gains and the shift 

away from paper for written communication will persist. 

The forestry and logging sector has also seen a slowing in 

the rate of employment loss in the last decade. 

Why can’t the entire 

indicator be reported at this 

time?

The aggregate national statistics provided here obscure 

the fact that relative shifts in employment will be more 

extreme at the regional and local levels, concentrating 

impacts both positive and negative. Analysis at smaller 

spatial scales is beyond the scope of this brief report, 

but readers should be aware that considering the spatial 

distribution of employment changes is important, 

particularly in the instance of job losses in rural areas not 

associated with robust labor markets.

A more fundamental concern is the fact that the forestry 

and wood products sectors reported here in no way 

encompass the total of jobs associated with forests in the 

United States. Forest-related employment in Federal, 

Figure 36-1—Average annual full- and part-time employment in the forestry and logging, wood products, and 

paper products sectors, 1990–2020. Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics 2021.
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State, local, and Tribal 

governments is not reported 

here, nor is employment in 

academia, forest management, 

and the forest-related recreation 

sector—all areas where the 

delineation of forest-related 

employment is challenging. 

Reporting on these and related 

categories would entail 

aggregation of many different 

sources and invariably results in 

gaps and inconsistencies, 

especially in time series analysis. 

These unreported employment 

types are likely expanding owing 

to a larger and more diverse 

engagement of society with 

forest ecosystems, ranging from 

back country recreation to urban 

forestry. A targeted analysis of 

trends in these areas is 

warranted. 

References

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. 

2021. Quarterly Census of 

Employment and Wages, QCEW 

data files. https://www.bls.gov/

cew/downloadable-data-files.

htm. [Date accessed: November 

16, 2021].

Table 36-1—Average annual full- and part-time employment in the forestry and logging, wood products, and 

paper products sectors, 1990–2020, and change over the 1990–2020 and 2010–2020 time periods.

Year Forestry and logging Wood products Paper products Total

1990 103,069 549,511 656,111 1,308,691

1991 95,781 494,853 640,830 1,231,464

1992 96,440 502,633 641,773 1,240,846

1993 96,399 523,902 641,744 1,262,045

1994 96,049 558,691 641,610 1,296,350

1995 97,017 571,859 648,273 1,317,149

1996 95,558 578,803 639,150 1,313,511

1997 95,534 595,138 639,960 1,330,632

1998 93,390 610,219 630,850 1,334,459

1999 90,621 621,146 616,466 1,328,233

2000 87,824 614,106 604,776 1,306,706

2001 82,526 571,108 577,030 1,230,664

2002 80,135 554,731 543,379 1,178,245

2003 77,592 535,138 514,118 1,126,848

2004 76,883 548,800 493,341 1,119,024

2005 75,105 559,944 482,922 1,117,971

2006 72,140 556,110 468,422 1,096,672

2007 69,085 514,853 455,591 1,039,529

2008 65,289 455,354 441,353 961,996

2009 58,767 359,532 405,438 823,737

2010 60,065 340,248 392,853 793,166

2011 59,111 336,967 387,057 783,135

2012 58,744 339,708 379,519 777,971

2013 59,704 354,323 376,519 790,546

2014 60,352 370,494 372,646 803,492

2015 61,275 364,898 371,784 797,957

2016 60,196 390,938 369,078 820,212

2017 57,443 397,122 366,964 821,529

2018 57,277 406,143 364,188 827,608

2019 56,452 406,379 364,546 827,377

2020 53,402 395,098 352,086 800,586

1990–2020 -48% -28% -46% -39%

2010–2020 -11% 16% -10% 1%
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U.S. Forest Sustainability Indicators:

 https://www.fs.usda.gov/research/inventory/sustainability

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Robertson, Guy C.; St. Hilaire, Jamille. 2024. Indicator 6.36: employment in the 

forest products sector, 2020. FS-1217-Indicator-6.36. Washington, DC: U.S. 

Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Washington Office. 4 p. 

https://doi.org/10.2737/FS-1217-Indicator-6.36.