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REPORT: Direct-Care Job Growth Continues to Surge

December 22, 2015

Direct-care jobs represent three of the top six occupations that will create the most jobs in the decade spanning 2014 to 2024, new data from the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) shows.

Personal care aide jobs top the list of top ten occupations projected to register the largest numeric growth across the entire economy with 458,100 new jobs created by 2024.

Home health aide jobs rank third on the list, with 348,400 new jobs created, while certified nursing assistants rank at number six (262,000 new jobs).

With a projected growth rate of 38.1 percent, home health aide jobs will be the fifth fastest-growing in the country between 2014 and 2024, the BLS predicts.

Collectively, the direct-care workforce is expected to grow from 4.2 million in 2014 to more than 5.2 million by 2024, making it the largest single workforce in the country. The BLS predicts that one out of every nine jobs created in the U.S. by 2024 will be in the field of direct care.

The full set of 2014-24 employment projections is available on the BLS website.

— by Matthew Ozga

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