The arrival of the pandemic in 2020 shocked the global economy like no single event had prior. And new data reveals that even though U.S. companies were resilient enough to add jobs through the year, they did so at half the rate of a more normal, pre-pandemic year.
Companies that operated in the financial services, package delivery and e-commerce sectors were responsible for the largest net job creation in 2020. Specifically, jobs at mutual funds and financial trusts represented the largest net gain.
In September 2022, the Census Bureau released its newest slate of Business Dynamics Statistics (BDS) data covering the full year 2020. There are more recent measures of job creation, but the slow-to-release BDS series provides the most accurate and thorough look at this part of our economy.
To better understand where the economy saw the most growth in the labor force, NEXT analyzed the Census’ data to identify the 25 industries with the highest net job creation. For this analysis, industries are ranked by job creation rates, but data on total net job creation and total industry employment are also included for added context.
The COVID-19 pandemic's shock to the U.S. economy consisted of a historic drop-off in job openings coupled with skyrocketing unemployment. It was one of the deepest recessions the U.S. has ever recorded — and at two months, the briefest as well. Like a light switch, the economy flickered off, and millions of jobs were lost through the month of April 2020.
As the country began to emerge from pandemic disruptions from July 2020 to July 2021, employers brought back furloughed employees in many sectors, resulting in job openings that surged by around 63%. Employment shot up similarly as companies began snapping up workers again after panicked layoffs a few months prior.
The private sector grew jobs by a net 0.6% in 2020, adding around 792,000 positions, according to the Census. That was about 1.2 million jobs less than in each of the years leading up to the pandemic. Net job creation was negative from 2008 to 2010 amid the Great Recession and remained between 1% and 2.5% until 2020.
Nearly a decade of low interest rates has been identified as one of the conditions that allowed for such rapid job growth after a recession in certain sectors, including tech — which began shedding many of those positions in 2022 in layoffs that now number in the hundreds of thousands.
And though businesses felt exceptionally uncertain about the future of their businesses in 2020, government stimulus money flooded the economy. Employers tried to move forward, adapting their business plans and doing their best to navigate an uncertain economic climate.
Many of their adaptations accelerated trends that had been building before the virus began its rapid spread in the U.S. For example, the banking, financial, and food service sectors had been slowly embracing digitalization for roughly a decade before the pandemic made remote and online services essential for business survival.
Meanwhile, thanks to historically low interest rates and a surge in remote working, Americans purchased homes and invested in real estate across the country at record rates — all while they watched the stock market roar. The S&P 500, an index that includes roughly 500 companies and represents about 80% of the equity in the stock market, delivered above-average returns to investors in 2019, 2020, and 2021. Individual investing skyrocketed, leading Fidelity to add 12,000 staffers to keep up while trading startup Robinhood amassed millions of young users, many trading stocks for the first time.
Demand for goods and food stayed high as well as consumers spent their income on things for their homes rather than services that would require venturing out into public spaces, supporting some growth in manufacturing jobs.
#25. Food manufacturing
- Net job creation rate: 1.4%
- Net jobs created, 2020: 21,766
- Total employment, 2020: 1.6 million
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#24. Specialty trade contractors
- Net job creation rate: 1.7%
- Net jobs created, 2020: 79,533
- Total employment, 2020: 4.6 million
#23. Insurance carriers and related activities
- Net job creation rate: 1.9%
- Net jobs created, 2020: 51,873
- Total employment, 2020: 2.8 million
#22. Textile product mills
- Net job creation rate: 1.9%
- Net jobs created, 2020: 2,059
- Total employment, 2020: 107,606
#21. Social assistance
- Net job creation rate: 2.1%
- Net jobs created, 2020: 73,613
- Total employment, 2020: 3.5 million
#20. Credit intermediation and related activities
- Net job creation rate: 2.1%
- Net jobs created, 2020: 62,129
- Total employment, 2020: 2.9 million
#19. Management of companies and enterprises
- Net job creation rate: 2.3%
- Net jobs created, 2020: 83,154
- Total employment, 2020: 3.6 million
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#18. Air transportation
- Net job creation rate: 2.4%
- Net jobs created, 2020: 12,753
- Total employment, 2020: 526,984
#17. Ambulatory health care services
- Net job creation rate: 2.5%
- Net jobs created, 2020: 195,363
- Total employment, 2020: 8.0 million
#16. Real estate
- Net job creation rate: 2.6%
- Net jobs created, 2020: 44,290
- Total employment, 2020: 1.7 million
#15. Publishing industries (except internet)
- Net job creation rate: 2.7%
- Net jobs created, 2020: 26,370
- Total employment, 2020: 1.0 million
#14. Waste management and remediation services
- Net job creation rate: 2.7%
- Net jobs created, 2020: 11,887
- Total employment, 2020: 450,211
#13. Professional, scientific, and technical services
- Net job creation rate: 2.7%
- Net jobs created, 2020: 253,819
- Total employment, 2020: 9.5 million
#12. Construction of buildings
- Net job creation rate: 2.8%
- Net jobs created, 2020: 40,619
- Total employment, 2020: 1.5 million
#11. Truck transportation
- Net job creation rate: 2.8%
- Net jobs created, 2020: 44,401
- Total employment, 2020: 1.6 million
#10. Water transportation
- Net job creation rate: 3.0%
- Net jobs created, 2020: 1,922
- Total employment, 2020: 64,995
#9. Petroleum and coal products manufacturing
- Net job creation rate: 3.1%
- Net jobs created, 2020: 3,412
- Total employment, 2020: 111,624
#8. Broadcasting (except internet)
- Net job creation rate: 3.1%
- Net jobs created, 2020: 8,463
- Total employment, 2020: 275,155
#7. Warehousing and storage
- Net job creation rate: 3.5%
- Net jobs created, 2020: 39,799
- Total employment, 2020: 1.1 million
#6. Beverage and tobacco product manufacturing
- Net job creation rate: 3.7%
- Net jobs created, 2020: 9,585
- Total employment, 2020: 263,831
#5. Lessors of nonfinancial intangible assets (except copyrighted works)
- Net job creation rate: 5.6%
- Net jobs created, 2020: 2,032
- Total employment, 2020: 37,155
#4. Web search portals, libraries, archives, and other information services
- Net job creation rate: 7.2%
- Net jobs created, 2020: 23,014
- Total employment, 2020: 329,287
#3. Nonstore retailers
- Net job creation rate: 9.8%
- Net jobs created, 2020: 80,891
- Total employment, 2020: 866,487
#2. Couriers and messengers
- Net job creation rate: 11.7%
- Net jobs created, 2020: 106,104
- Total employment, 2020: 959,152
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#1. Funds, trusts, and other financial vehicles
- Net job creation rate: 15.4%
- Net jobs created, 2020: 1,156
- Total employment, 2020: 8,083
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