Holding the Fort: Nonprofit Employment during a Decade of Turmoil

Posted by on January 29, 2012

Study: Nonprofits added more jobs than businesses since 2000

Nonprofits added jobs at an average annual rate of more than 2 percent from 2000 to 2010, while for-profit jobs were cut by 0.6 percent each year on average, according to a new study from Johns Hopkins University.

Even during the recession years of 2008 and 2009, charities increased their employment by nearly 2 percent, while for-profit jobs declined by nearly 4 percent, according to the report, which was based on Bureau of Labor Statistics data.

The study also found that nonprofits are the third largest type of private employer in the United States, behind only retail trade and manufacturing. Nonprofits employed nearly 10.7 million workers in 2010, which is just over 10 percent of the country’s work force, not counting government employees. More than half of all nonprofit employees have jobs at health-care organizations, while 15 percent work at colleges and other educational institutions.

For a copy of the report, go here.

http://ccss.jhu.edu/publications-findings?did=369