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Current Employment Statistics (CES6054000001) · Professional, scientific, technical, seasonally adjusted

How many jobs are there in professional, scientific, and technical services?

The number of jobs in professional, scientific, and technical services was 10,844 thousand in the month ended , up 0.8% from a year earlier (preliminary).

Jobs in professional, scientific, and technical services, in thousands, seasonally adjusted, each month

January 1990 to September 2026Seasonally adjusted, as published

Jobs in professional, scientific, and technical services, in thousands, seasonally adjusted, each month (January 1990 to September 2026), recessions shaded
Jobs in professional, scientific, and technical services, in thousands, seasonally adjusted, each month (September 2016 to September 2026), recessions shaded
Jobs in professional, scientific, and technical services, in thousands, seasonally adjusted, each month (September 2024 to September 2026)

Shaded bands are US recessions as the National Bureau of Economic Research dates them: to , to , to , to .

Shaded bands are US recessions as the National Bureau of Economic Research dates them: to .

Jobs in professional, scientific, and technical services, in thousands, change from a year earlier, each month (ours)

January 1990 to September 2026Ours, from the published values

Jobs in professional, scientific, and technical services, in thousands, change from a year earlier, each month (ours) (January 1990 to September 2026), recessions shaded
Jobs in professional, scientific, and technical services, in thousands, change from a year earlier, each month (ours) (September 2016 to September 2026), recessions shaded
Jobs in professional, scientific, and technical services, in thousands, change from a year earlier, each month (ours) (September 2024 to September 2026)

Shaded bands are US recessions as the National Bureau of Economic Research dates them: to , to , to , to .

Shaded bands are US recessions as the National Bureau of Economic Research dates them: to .

Each point is one month of the series as the source publishes it, or a change worked out from those values (ours). The US recessions are shaded. Pointing at the chart shows the month and the value.

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Inspect and compare dates

The newest month beside the one before it and the nearest ones a year, five and ten years earlier. The last ten years are in the table under "The numbers behind the chart".

MeasureLatestThe month beforeA year earlierFive years earlierTen years earlier
Month
Jobs in professional, scientific, and technical services, in thousands10,844 thousand10,837 thousand10,761 thousand10,045 thousand8,918 thousand
Change over a year+0.8%+0.7%−0.3%+6.8%+2.4%

The table scrolls sideways; the first column stays in place.

Observed .

Right now

The number of jobs in professional, scientific, and technical services was 10,844 thousand in September 2026, the highest since our record begins in January 1990.

Over a year it is up 0.8% (ours). The source marks this value preliminary.

See every month of the last ten years

ChangeOurs

PeriodThenChange
One month10,837 thousand in +0.1%
Three months10,834 thousand in +0.1%
Twelve months10,761 thousand in +0.8%
Five years10,045 thousand in +8.0%
Ten years8,918 thousand in +21.6%

In historyOurs

The number of jobs in professional, scientific, and technical services of 10,844 thousand in was higher than in 440 of the 440 other months since , the same in 0 and lower in 0.

Highest since : 10,844 thousand in . Lowest since : 4,514 thousand in .

AverageOurs

Average since : 7,577.2 thousand (ours, a plain mean of the 441 months).

ComparedOurs

Over a year the number of jobs in professional, scientific, and technical services is up 0.8%, which ranks 6 of the 35 rows of the table, where 1 is the largest change.

The table sets the number of jobs in professional, scientific, and technical services beside the industries on the jobs by industry page, by the change over a year in each one's newest month.

See every row of the ranking

Understanding the number of jobs in professional, scientific, and technical services

Where it stands today

The number of jobs in professional, scientific, and technical services was 10,844 thousand in September 2026.

What does the number of jobs in professional, scientific, and technical services measure?

Professional, scientific, and technical services covers firms such as law offices, accounting and bookkeeping firms, architecture and engineering firms, computer systems design, management consulting, scientific research and advertising.

Read more

The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) counts these jobs each month in a survey of employers, the Current Employment Statistics, and publishes them in the Employment Situation report at the start of the next month. The count is all employees on payrolls, in thousands, seasonally adjusted.

What 500metrics adds: the change over one month, three months, a year and five years, the highest and lowest value since the series begins, how the change over a year ranks among the lines of the jobs by industry page.

The numbers behind the chart

What was the number of jobs in professional, scientific, and technical services in each month?The last ten years, 120 months, newest first; the chart and the file have every month since Jan 1990
Jobs in professional, scientific, and technical services, in thousands, seasonally adjusted, by month, newest first (Thousands of jobs; the change ours)
MonthValueChange over a year
10,844 thousand+0.8%
10,837 thousand+0.7%
10,836 thousand+0.6%
10,834 thousand+0.6%
10,816 thousand+0.3%
10,809 thousand+0.2%
10,796 thousand+0.1%
10,810 thousand+0.3%
10,790 thousand0.0%
10,785 thousand−0.3%
10,791 thousand0.0%
10,754 thousand−0.3%
10,761 thousand−0.3%
10,766 thousand−0.3%
10,773 thousand−0.3%
10,768 thousand−0.5%
10,784 thousand−0.3%
10,787 thousand−0.1%
10,782 thousand−0.1%
10,780 thousand−0.3%
10,793 thousand−0.1%
10,814 thousand+0.1%
10,788 thousand+0.1%
10,783 thousand0.0%
Show 96 more rows
MonthValueChange over a year
10,795 thousand+0.1%
10,794 thousand+0.1%
10,806 thousand+0.2%
10,821 thousand+0.4%
10,818 thousand+0.4%
10,793 thousand+0.4%
10,790 thousand+0.5%
10,809 thousand+0.8%
10,807 thousand+1.1%
10,800 thousand+1.2%
10,778 thousand+1.1%
10,780 thousand+1.4%
10,784 thousand+1.8%
10,787 thousand+2.1%
10,787 thousand+2.3%
10,776 thousand+2.7%
10,777 thousand+3.1%
10,755 thousand+3.3%
10,739 thousand+3.5%
10,725 thousand+4.0%
10,693 thousand+4.2%
10,677 thousand+4.4%
10,659 thousand+4.7%
10,633 thousand+5.2%
10,594 thousand+5.5%
10,570 thousand+5.9%
10,543 thousand+6.2%
10,491 thousand+6.6%
10,450 thousand+6.5%
10,412 thousand+6.6%
10,379 thousand+6.9%
10,316 thousand+6.8%
10,264 thousand+6.9%
10,226 thousand+7.2%
10,177 thousand+7.4%
10,109 thousand+7.0%
10,045 thousand+6.8%
9,980 thousand+6.7%
9,925 thousand+6.7%
9,838 thousand+6.0%
9,812 thousand+6.6%
9,763 thousand+6.6%
9,710 thousand+0.3%
9,657 thousand−0.5%
9,604 thousand−0.7%
9,535 thousand−1.1%
9,475 thousand−1.6%
9,446 thousand−1.6%
9,403 thousand−1.9%
9,352 thousand−2.4%
9,301 thousand−2.7%
9,278 thousand−2.7%
9,209 thousand−3.1%
9,162 thousand−3.3%
9,685 thousand+2.4%
9,705 thousand+2.9%
9,667 thousand+2.8%
9,637 thousand+2.7%
9,628 thousand+2.8%
9,602 thousand+2.7%
9,588 thousand+2.8%
9,578 thousand+2.8%
9,560 thousand+2.9%
9,537 thousand+2.8%
9,505 thousand+2.7%
9,476 thousand+2.7%
9,460 thousand+2.8%
9,428 thousand+2.6%
9,405 thousand+2.6%
9,385 thousand+2.7%
9,369 thousand+2.7%
9,350 thousand+2.7%
9,328 thousand+2.6%
9,315 thousand+2.5%
9,290 thousand+2.5%
9,276 thousand+2.5%
9,257 thousand+2.5%
9,227 thousand+2.3%
9,206 thousand+2.4%
9,189 thousand+2.3%
9,165 thousand+2.1%
9,138 thousand+2.0%
9,119 thousand+2.0%
9,108 thousand+1.9%
9,094 thousand+2.0%
9,088 thousand+2.2%
9,067 thousand+2.0%
9,051 thousand+2.0%
9,033 thousand+2.0%
9,020 thousand+2.0%
8,989 thousand+1.9%
8,985 thousand+1.9%
8,974 thousand+1.8%
8,956 thousand+2.2%
8,940 thousand+2.1%
8,934 thousand+2.3%
How does it compare with the industries on the jobs by industry page?Ranked by the change over a year
Jobs in professional, scientific, and technical services, in thousands beside the industries on the jobs by industry page, newest month of each, by the change over a year (ours); equal changes share a rank
SeriesMonthValueChange over a yearRank
Health care and social assistance23,959 thousand+2.2%1
Private education and health28,005 thousand+1.9%2
Utilities612 thousand+1.7%3
Construction8,364 thousand+1.3%4
Durable goods7,898 thousand+1.1%5
Professional, scientific, technical10,844 thousand+0.8%6
Accommodation and food services14,310 thousand+0.7%7
Goods-producing21,623 thousand+0.7%7
Other services6,039 thousand+0.6%9
Professional and business services22,482 thousand+0.6%9
Administrative, support, waste9,019 thousand+0.5%11
Private service-providing114,094 thousand+0.5%11
Total private135,717 thousand+0.5%11
Leisure and hospitality16,969 thousand+0.4%14
Wholesale trade6,078 thousand+0.4%14
Local government15,173 thousand+0.3%16
Manufacturing12,652 thousand+0.3%16
Mining and logging607 thousand+0.3%16
Service-providing137,421 thousand+0.3%16
Total nonfarm159,044 thousand+0.3%16
Retail trade15,480 thousand+0.2%21
Trade, transportation, utilities28,778 thousand+0.2%21
Mining, oil and gas extraction567 thousand+0.1%23
Private education4,046 thousand−0.1%24
Transportation and warehousing6,609 thousand−0.1%24
Management of companies2,620 thousand−0.3%26
State government5,472 thousand−0.5%27
Real estate, rental, leasing2,438 thousand−0.6%28
Government23,327 thousand−0.9%29
Nondurable goods4,754 thousand−0.9%29
Financial activities9,082 thousand−1.2%31
Finance and insurance6,645 thousand−1.4%32
Arts, entertainment, recreation2,659 thousand−1.6%33
Information2,739 thousand−4.2%34
Federal government2,682 thousand−8.0%35

The table scrolls sideways; the first column stays in place.

What do these figures leave out, and how are they cited?Limits, dates and how to cite

What this number cannot tell you

  • BLS counts jobs, not people: a person with two jobs on two payrolls is counted twice. Farm jobs, the self-employed, unpaid family workers, private household workers and members of the military are not counted.
  • The count comes from a survey of employers, so each month's value carries sampling error. BLS revises each month twice in the two months after it is first published, and each February it benchmarks the series to a full count of jobs from unemployment insurance tax records and revises earlier values, so past values on this page can change.
  • BLS publishes this series from 1990.
  • JOLTS has no line for exactly this group of industries, so no job openings, hires, quits or layoffs are shown beside the count of jobs.
  • The count is shown in whole thousands, but BLS publishes this series to one decimal, so the changes, the ranks and the highest and lowest values, which are ours and worked out from the values as BLS publishes them, can differ in their last place from those worked out from the values as shown.
  • The changes, the ranks and the highest and lowest values are ours, worked out from the values BLS publishes; a change is in percent.

Observed . Checked .

How to cite this

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Current Employment Statistics, Professional, scientific, technical, seasonally adjusted, through September 2026. Compiled by 500metrics, "How many jobs are there in professional, scientific, and technical services?", https://500metrics.com/jobs-by-industry/professional-scientific-technical.

Can the data be downloaded?jobs-by-industry-professional-scientific-technical.csv

Download the full history as CSV: 441 rows, to , 8,511 bytes.

Our text and compilation: CC BY 4.0.

Recession dates from the National Bureau of Economic Research.

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