Job Creation by Year (2011–2021)
Job creation is vital for economic growth, as it boosts consumer spending and increases business revenues. Aside from having more demand for their products and services, companies also benefit from the larger workforce brought about by new jobs.
How has the number of jobs created in the United States evolved in recent years? Here’s a closer look.
Number of jobs created by year
According to the latest annual job creation numbers published by the US Small Business Administration, 12.45 million jobs were created in 2021. This was a 2.6% annual fall, and the lowest number of jobs created in seven years.
The data analyzing the number of jobs created by year shows that this figure has fluctuated for more than 10 years. In 2011, 11.63 million new jobs were created—a 15.4% surge from the previous year and the biggest annual increase from 2011 to 2021.
Growth continued in 2012, but at a slower rate, as the number of jobs created rose by 5%, to 12.22 million. In 2013, this figure fell by 1.4%, to 12.04 million. Three years of growth then followed. The economy added 12.28 million jobs in 2014, a 2% annual rise, before increases of 4.5% and 2.6% took the number of jobs created to 12.83 million and 13.17 million in 2015 and 2016, respectively.
This growth could not be sustained for a fourth year. Statistics on annual job creation show that the number of jobs gained in 2017 dipped by 1.6%, to 12.95 million. Growth returned in the two following years, with marginal increases of 1.3% and 0.1% in 2018 and 2019, respectively.
Job creation by year: 2020–2021
The number of jobs created fell by 2.7% in 2020, to 12.78 million, as a result of the recession caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. This was the biggest decrease between 2011 and 2021. That year, the US economy experienced heavy job losses, and the unemployment rate surged to a high of 13% in the second quarter.
2021 saw yet another decline, as annual job creation numbers shrunk by 2.6%, to 12.45 million. This was the only time the number of jobs created fell by two consecutive years between 2011 and 2021.