Overview
- The Bureau of Labor Statistics report on September 4 showed the U.S. economy added 162,000 jobs in August and the unemployment rate was 4.1%.
- BLS projects the utilities sector will be the fastest growing through 2035 because electric power generation, transmission and distribution must expand to meet AI and data‑center electricity needs.
- Official forecasts also say healthcare and social assistance will add about 2.2 million jobs and professional, scientific, and technical services will grow strongly as firms hire data scientists and research scientists.
- Private estimates and industry data point to roughly 1 million new AI‑related roles and nearly half a million data‑center jobs created since 2023 while companies continue to announce roughly 16,000 AI‑linked cuts per month and office and administrative support is forecast to lose about 752,000 jobs by 2035.
- The transition is uneven for workers and places, driving higher pay for electricians and data‑center technicians, raising urgent reskilling needs, and putting pressure on the power grid and local planning as data‑center construction scales up.