Washington state’s job growth is projected to remain slow over the next eight years, according to the Employment Security Department’s annual update of industry and occupational employment projections. The projected annual job growth rate from 2024 to 2029 is 0.85% and from 2029 to 2034 is 0.84%.
The annual projections provide job seekers, policymakers, educators and training providers an idea of how many jobs exist within industries and occupations, how the number of jobs is expected to change over time and the projected future demand for workers.
“Employment projections build from historic data to tell us about what we can expect in the future,” said Anneliese Vance-Sherman, chief labor economist for Employment Security. “This year’s projections tell the story of continuing slow growth overall, with variation by location, industry and occupation.”
Find the updated employment projection reports, an interactive dashboard and the methodology on the Employment Security Department’s website.
Industry and occupational projections highlights
At a sector level, the highest growth is expected in education and health services. Average annual growth is expected to be 1.97% from 2024 to 2029 and 1.26% from 2029 to 2034.
- The top three occupations for projected growth rates from 2024 to 2029 are nurse practitioners, occupational therapy assistants and medical and health service managers.
- The top three occupations for projected annual average openings due to growth from 2024 to 2029 are home health and personal care aides, fast food and counter workers and registered nurses.
- The top three occupations for projected total average annual openings are fast food and counter workers, retail salespersons and farmworkers and laborers, crop, nursery and greenhouse.
- Average annual employment growth is expected to slow over time, with some variation by region. The Benton-Franklin Workforce Development area is expected to see the highest average annual growth from 2024 to 2029, and Seattle-King County is expected to lead average annual growth from 2029 to 2034.
An interactive dashboard on industry employment projections is available for users to break down data by state and county and by individual industry sectors. Full details and data files are available on Employment Security’s website.