March 2025
Textile and Apparel Factory Jobs Plunged 27% Since 2014
Domestic employment in textile and apparel manufacturing has continued to fall off in the past decade. In 2024, America’s textile and apparel industry employed roughly 100,000 fewer U.S. workers compared with 2014. This domestic manufacturing labor force contracted by 27% over the last decade. The U.S. employee count in apparel manufacturing shrank by 55,000 and in textile manufacturing by 45,800.
Textile mill workers’ average annual pay was $56,900, and apparel manufacturing workers earned $55,700 in 2023, compared with the average annual pay for private manufacturing workers of $82,575. The U.S. government forecasts both factory sectors are projected to continue to shed jobs between 2023 and 2033.
Sources: Bureau of Labor Statistics, Current Employment Statistics, Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages, and Employment Projections, 2023-2033
February 2025
Steel Industry Employment Down 8% Since 2014
Employing 138,900 American workers directly in 2024, the U.S. steel industry shed 12,400 jobs from 2014, a drop of 8.2% over the decade. Direct employment in U.S. steel mills— integrated mills and mini-mills—totaled 79,300 workers in 2024 and the remainder was in steel product manufacturing. Last year, the steel industry represented 1.1% of the nation’s 12.9 million U.S. manufacturing jobs. Steel mill workers’ average annual pay was $116,676, or roughly 40% more than the average annual pay for private manufacturing workers of $82,575 in 2023. The U.S. government projects a rise in employment at steel mills of 2.5% and drop in jobs in steel product manufacturing of 1.5% between 2023 and 2033.
Sources: Bureau of Labor Statistics, Current Employment Statistics, Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages, and Employment Projections, 2023-2033
January 2025
Renewable Electric Power Generation Jobs Projected to Grow the Fastest over Next Decade
The U.S. Government’s Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) projects the fastest-growing industries by employment over the next decade will all be in renewable energies: solar electric power generation (+276%), wind electric power generation (+115%), other electric power generation (+47%), and geothermal electric power generation (+42%). The incoming Trump Administration has promised energy policies focused on fossil fuels, which could dampen these projections.
BLS forecasts jobs related to the production of fossil fuels, such as coal mining and fossil fuel electric power generation will shrink rapidly, dropping by 44% and 33%, respectively, through 2033.
Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Projections, 2023-2033