The U.S. labor market recovered unevenly after 2020, with white-collar industries pulling significantly ahead of many traditional blue-collar sectors.
The chart compares employment growth across professional services, manufacturing, and construction using an index where 2020 equals 100 points. By 2025, professional and technical services reached roughly 124 index points, outperforming both manufacturing and construction.
The divergence highlights how post-pandemic hiring increasingly favored knowledge-based and professional industries rather than labor-intensive sectors.
Where Hiring Growth Was Strongest
Professional, scientific, and technical services recorded the strongest employment growth throughout the period.
After rising to around 107 index points in 2021, the sector continued climbing steadily each year, eventually reaching nearly 124 points by 2025.
Manufacturing also recovered, but at a slower pace. Employment growth gradually strengthened from 103 points in 2021 to about 121 points by 2025.
Construction followed a very different path. Instead of expanding, employment levels remained relatively flat and eventually declined below pre-2020 levels, ending near 94 points in 2025.
What the Mid-Range Trends Show
The chart reveals that not all blue-collar industries struggled equally. Manufacturing managed to regain momentum over time, benefiting from industrial demand, supply-chain rebuilding, and federal investment initiatives.
Construction, however, failed to sustain similar growth. After a brief rebound in 2022, hiring weakened again during 2023 through 2025.
Meanwhile, professional services maintained the most consistent upward trajectory across the entire dataset.
This suggests employers increasingly prioritized high-skill and knowledge-based work during the recovery period.
Why This Pattern Exists
Several economic forces likely contributed to the divergence.
Professional services benefited from the continued expansion of technology, consulting, engineering, finance, and digital infrastructure work. Many of these industries adapted quickly to hybrid and remote work models after the pandemic.
Manufacturing recovered partly due to reshoring efforts, industrial policy support, and renewed domestic investment in factories and supply chains.
Construction faced more pressure from elevated interest rates and slowing real estate activity. Higher borrowing costs reduced housing demand and delayed commercial development projects in many regions.
The result was a labor market where white-collar employment accelerated faster than many traditional physical-labor industries.
What This Means for Workers
The chart reflects a broader shift in the modern economy toward professional and technical occupations.
For workers, this means education, digital skills, and specialized expertise increasingly influence employment stability and wage growth.
At the same time, the weaker performance of construction highlights how interest-rate sensitive industries can slow rapidly when financing conditions tighten.
The broader takeaway is clear: the post-pandemic labor recovery did not lift all sectors equally. White-collar industries emerged as the strongest long-term hiring winners.
Dataset
Data Sources
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis (FRED). (2026). Employment in Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services (CES6054000001). https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/CES6054000001
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis (FRED). (2026). Manufacturing Employment (MANEMP). https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/MANEMP
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis (FRED). (2026). All Employees, Construction (USCONS). https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/USCONS
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2026). Current Employment Statistics (CES). https://www.bls.gov/ces/
