A new year brings new employment projections. Although 2015 has barely begun, we can already begin looking ahead and identifying employment sectors that will support additional job growth throughout the Rural Capital Area.

Over the next five years, nearly all employment clusters in the Rural Capital Area are projected to experience employment gains. Private Education is expected to be the single fastest growing employment cluster in the region (most education employment is accounted for in Government). Between 2014 and 2019, the number of Private Education jobs in the Rural Capital Area is expected to rise more than 27%. Two manufacturing clusters, Automotive and Furniture, are also projected to support strong job growth at 23% and 22%, respectively. Additional sources of job growth include traditional areas of strength in the Rural Capital Area such as Research (20% growth), Health Care (20%), and Transportation & Logistics (20%).

Due to their relatively large size, many slower growing employment clusters are projected to create the largest number of new jobs within the Rural Capital Area through 2019. Retail employment is expected to increase by more than 8,750 jobs during the next five years. Industrial Machinery Manufacturing and Health Care are also expected to create a significant number of jobs within the Rural Capital Area, at 6,100 and 5,500, respectively. Both Construction and Back Office Support clusters are projected to create more than 2,000 jobs each.

Strong job growth among some of the leading employment clusters within the Rural Capital Area will further solidify existing strengths. With an LQ of 3.1, Industrial Machinery Manufacturing is already one of the most relatively concentrated employment sectors within the Rural Capital Area. With an LQ of 1.3, Retail employment in the region is 30% more concentrated compared to the US average. Furniture Manufacturing, which is also expected to enjoy strong growth through 2019, is 20% more concentrated compared to the US average. Other relatively concentrated employment clusters include Mining & Logging (3.3 LQ) and Construction (1.5 LQ). Government, Energy, Aerospace, & Electronics Manufacturing are also more concentrated in the Rural Capital Area compared to the US average.

Click here to see the industry cluster bubble charts or tables on detailed industries.