Job growth across the South fails to keep up with growth in the working-age population: Cumulative job growth and population growth across the South, 1977–2019

Population growth Job growth
1977 1,267,416   1,284,911 
1978 2,532,334   2,935,998 
1979 3,867,584   4,059,991 
1980 5,201,833   4,751,510 
1981 6,433,496   5,518,831 
1982 7,630,166   5,620,934 
1983 8,669,414   6,176,813 
1984 9,630,667   7,952,282 
1985 10,623,832   9,113,601 
1986 11,513,750   9,748,660 
1987 12,306,080   10,824,988 
1988 12,978,833   12,122,672 
1989 13,662,914   13,061,495 
1990 14,926,611   13,969,456 
1991 15,920,162   13,933,847 
1992 16,877,144   14,444,984 
1993 17,950,796   15,813,687 
1994 19,038,362   17,142,019 
1995 20,133,601   18,720,949 
1996 21,271,247   19,937,982 
1997 22,401,896   21,446,810 
1998 23,498,718   22,905,917 
1999 24,564,534   24,028,049 
2000 25,532,544   25,459,512 
2001 26,581,086   25,589,803 
2002 27,645,876   25,662,589 
2003 28,668,719   26,159,567 
2004 29,824,155   27,453,926 
2005 31,083,266   29,067,334 
2006 32,408,346   30,734,429 
2007 33,769,067   32,297,997 
2008 34,952,955   32,349,656 
2009 36,004,988   30,545,345 
2010 37,706,291   30,436,865 
2011 39,020,863   31,779,969 
2012 40,139,552   32,850,120 
2013 41,230,256   34,116,058 
2014 42,395,433   35,728,792 
2015 43,656,009   37,341,321 
2016 44,927,358   38,576,692 
2017 45,833,735   40,002,604 
2018 46,817,141   41,765,484 
2019 47,814,181   43,215,009 

Note: Population growth refers to growth of the working-age population aged 16 and older.  

Source: Population growth based on EPI analysis of population data from the state-level “Employment status of the civilian noninstitutional population, annual averages” from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Job growth based on analysis of Regional Economic Information System employment data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis, U.S. Department of Commerce. 

View the underlying data on epi.org.