It’s no secret that the chemical industry is in a period of growth, at least when it comes to petrochemicals and plastics.
According to the American Chemistry Council (ACC), the abundance of cheap natural gas has helped fuel at least 294 new or planned chemical projects (as of March 2017). With those projects comes jobs.
So far, employment in the U.S. chemicals industry has been steadily increasing each month. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates that the industry employed about 818,000 workers in May 2017 — up from 815,000 in February, but still a ways from the 828,000 predicted by ACC for this year. But if ACC’s projections are correct, another 20,000 jobs could be added in the next few years.
Here’s how employment in the industry has looked in the past 20 years.