How has the U.S. S&E job market grown over the years?

Notes:: S&E = science and engineering. S&E occupations are those in biological/agricultural/environmental life sciences, physical sciences, computer sciences, mathematics/statistics, engineering, psychology, and social sciences. Physical sciences = chemistry, physics, astronomy, and earth/ ocean/atmospheric sciences.

Main Finding

The S&E workforce has shown sustained growth for more than half a century.

The number of workers in S&E occupations grew from about 1.1 million in 1960 to about 5.8 million in 2011. This represents an average annual rate of 3.3%, greater than the 1.5% growth rate for the total workforce.
As a proportion of all employment, S&E occupational employment grew from 1.6% in 1960 to 4.1% in 2011.
During and after the 2007–09 recession, employment in S&E or S&E related jobs was generally more resilient than was overall employment.