Job growth across the South fails to keep up with population growth: Job and population growth by region relative to 1976, 1976–2019

 

South

Year Cumulative population growth Cumulative job growth
1976 0 0
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 

Midwest

Cumulative population growth Cumulative job growth
1977 561,002   835,704 
1978 1,081,584   1,813,172 
1979 1,521,166   2,393,300 
1980 1,898,665   1,875,964 
1981 2,170,500   1,644,785 
1982 2,287,085   968,459 
1983 2,349,835   1,098,890 
1984 2,523,334   2,168,187 
1985 2,680,416   2,774,166 
1986 2,970,750   3,305,687 
1987 3,329,916   4,135,027 
1988 3,652,667   4,896,430 
1989 3,844,001   5,583,191 
1990 3,470,007   6,142,720 
1991 3,889,290   6,112,862 
1992 4,289,818   6,349,528 
1993 4,733,427   6,963,787 
1994 5,122,040   7,960,062 
1995 5,534,234   8,921,049 
1996 5,958,930   9,536,491 
1997 6,282,790   10,163,573 
1998 6,579,400   10,863,329 
1999 6,897,678   11,413,574 
2000 7,207,812   12,104,673 
2001 7,558,560   11,826,122 
2002 7,890,482   11,462,053 
2003 8,205,664   11,411,266 
2004 8,499,267   11,784,466 
2005 8,821,137   12,215,113 
2006 9,178,117   12,606,555 
2007 9,507,140   13,086,421 
2008 9,800,189   12,840,347 
2009 10,070,862   11,435,412 
2010 10,295,249   11,247,783 
2011 10,558,826   11,897,743 
2012 10,830,835   12,349,477 
2013 11,102,890   12,848,484 
2014 11,355,746   13,408,073 
2015 11,553,299   13,986,591 
2016 11,760,714   14,349,753 
2017 12,256,532   14,626,495 
2018 12,459,014   15,084,556 
2019 12,656,723   15,536,381 

Northeast

Cumulative population growth Cumulative job growth
1977 276,082   422,204 
1978 529,499   1,148,365 
1979 788,751   1,760,831 
1980 1,012,084   1,912,979 
1981 1,317,416   2,008,549 
1982 1,557,666   1,914,197 
1983 1,811,251   2,162,643 
1984 2,063,417   3,114,721 
1985 2,243,583   3,794,339 
1986 2,485,333   4,418,142 
1987 2,737,417   4,881,080 
1988 2,933,666   5,601,253 
1989 3,004,751   5,786,778 
1990 3,312,218   5,644,832 
1991 3,406,538   4,854,629 
1992 3,454,512   4,824,665 
1993 3,581,985   5,035,361 
1994 3,694,873   5,264,244 
1995 3,837,681   5,567,799 
1996 4,035,820   5,891,059 
1997 4,237,876   6,356,642 
1998 4,467,515   6,882,609 
1999 4,712,572   7,474,755 
2000 4,931,019   8,280,281 
2001 5,202,122   8,359,551 
2002 5,478,548   8,201,931 
2003 5,734,418   8,237,511 
2004 5,955,742   8,645,927 
2005 6,180,024   9,062,673 
2006 6,436,047   9,480,184 
2007 6,691,971   10,108,142 
2008 6,954,025   10,235,631 
2009 7,217,799   9,476,141 
2010 7,525,380   9,440,562 
2011 7,831,076   9,995,304 
2012 8,079,448   10,346,035 
2013 8,285,356   10,831,335 
2014 8,463,328   11,379,946 
2015 8,580,227   12,031,171 
2016 8,678,966   12,482,870 
2017 9,689,991   12,833,107 
2018 9,876,022   13,422,552 
2019 10,017,315   13,972,918 

West

Cumulative population growth Cumulative job growth
1977 904,332   908,181 
1978 1,875,417   2,197,865 
1979 2,842,750   3,341,778 
1980 3,774,998   3,851,547 
1981 4,498,916   4,150,635 
1982 5,164,500   4,068,510 
1983 5,763,666   4,616,154 
1984 6,458,165   5,701,710 
1985 7,168,249   6,523,394 
1986 7,874,917   7,168,611 
1987 8,598,584   8,116,105 
1988 9,315,082   9,352,345 
1989 10,056,333   10,155,136 
1990 11,738,841   10,982,692 
1991 12,372,253   11,120,262 
1992 13,150,428   10,955,723 
1993 13,809,853   11,370,365 
1994 14,435,776   12,239,075 
1995 15,065,619   13,114,803 
1996 15,762,044   14,099,468 
1997 16,622,385   14,982,975 
1998 17,484,563   16,238,145 
1999 18,316,568   17,023,722 
2000 19,086,338   17,935,134 
2001 19,932,891   18,155,524 
2002 20,725,595   18,177,327 
2003 21,457,733   18,521,956 
2004 22,216,178   19,364,181 
2005 23,008,526   20,402,080 
2006 23,862,658   21,456,232 
2007 24,653,887   22,459,940 
2008 25,446,337   22,197,066 
2009 26,188,500   20,588,602 
2010 27,046,378   20,185,290 
2011 27,788,208   20,827,484 
2012 28,498,237   21,842,868 
2013 29,186,275   22,938,023 
2014 29,923,226   24,125,789 
2015 30,708,957   25,375,517 
2016 31,520,160   26,378,385 
2017 32,115,153   27,283,694 
2018 32,725,780   28,420,408 
2019 33,272,323   29,493,992 

Notes: Population growth refers to growth of the working-age population ages 16 and older. The composition of each region follows the census definitions.

Population growth refers to growth of the working-age population ages 16 and older. The composition of each region follows the census definitions. The South includes Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and West Virginia. The Midwest includes Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin. The Northeast includes Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Vermont. The West includes Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming.

Sources: 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 (https://www.bls.gov/lau/rdscnp16.htm). Data on job growth based on analysis of Regional Economic Information System data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis, U.S. Department of Commerce.

View the underlying data on epi.org.