Nationwide, employers saw the costs of providing health benefits rise 8 percent. Employers expect an 11 percent increase in 2001. It was released on January 26. Of particular concern to companies looking to expand or relocate is information about the occupations that will face labor shortages, and which occupations will have labor availability. Some occupations, because of their size, will generate large numbers of net new jobs, even though they are expected to grow at average or below-average rates.
Examples are retail sales and food service occupations.
Occupations requiring an associate's degree or higher education, which accounted for 25 percent of all jobs in 1998, will account for 40 percent of job growth from 1998 to 2008. This will account for 57 percent of job growth in the 1998-2008 period. According to the report, most of the occupations with the largest projected job growth are concentrated in four industry sectors that are expected to account for more than three-fifths of the total growth in wage and salary jobs from 1998 to 2008. The report also focuses on occupations with the largest numerical job declines rather than on those with the fastest rates of decline because many detailed occupations in the latter category are very small and, consequently, the resulting employment declines are not very significant in terms of the total economy. Occupations fall into this category because the industry in which they are concentrated is projected to decline, or because technological or business practices will reduce the demand for the occupation in most industries.