The manufacturing and construction sectors were responsible for the vast majority of jobs lost in the recession. Manufacturing, durable and nondurable combined, eliminated 2.7 million jobs, and the construction sector shed 2.4 million jobs from the fourth quarter of 2007 to the fourth quarter of 2009. Together, these two sectors accounted for two-thirds of the 7.7 million total jobs loss.¹⁵

In the recovery, however, the two sectors have taken different paths. Manufacturing restored 1.4 million jobs from the fourth quarter of 2009 to the fourth quarter of 2013. Most of those jobs—974,000—are due to durable goods manufacturing. Meanwhile, employment in the construction sector was unchanged—it is estimated to have lost an additional 264,000 jobs from 2009 to 2011 and then to have added 258,000 jobs from 2011 to 2013.

Some industries added jobs even during the recession. Educational services and hospital and health services led the way, hiring 477,000 and 695,000 new workers, respectively, from 2007 to 2009. Growth in the health sector continued apace in the recovery as it added 991,000 jobs from 2009 to 2013, second only to professional and other business services (1.7 million new jobs in the recovery).

However, educational services reversed course in the recovery, shedding 248,000 jobs from 2009 to 2013, perhaps due to cutbacks in government expenditures. Other leading sources of lost jobs in the recovery are publishing, broadcasting, communication and information services (loss of 356,000 jobs) and public administration (loss of 234,000 jobs).

Employment Change for Hispanics by Industry

Hispanics working in the construction sector were the most vulnerable during the recession. They lost 686,000 jobs in the industry during the recession, and only 74,000 of those jobs have come back in the recovery. The share of Hispanics employed in construction fell from 14.2% in the fourth quarter of 2007 to 10% in the fourth quarter of 2013.

The vast majority of Latinos let go by the construction sector are immigrants. After losing 520,000 construction jobs in the recession, Latino immigrants experienced the loss of an additional 21,000 construction jobs in the recovery.¹⁶ Nearly one-in-five (19.4%) Latino immigrants worked in construction in 2007; by late 2013, the share had dropped to one-in-seven (14.4%).

Three sectors—eating, drinking and lodging services, wholesale and retail trade, and business services—account for the lion’s share of jobs gained by Latinos in the recovery. From 2009 to 2013, eating, drinking and lodging services added 497,000 jobs for Latinos, wholesale and retail trade hired 401,000, and professional and other business services absorbed 357,000. Collectively, those make up 45.5% of jobs growth for Latinos from 2009 to 2013.

Latinos lost jobs in one industry during the recovery, giving up 87,000 jobs in nondurable goods manufacturing. However, they also gained 249,000 jobs in durable goods manufacturing industry for a net gain in the manufacturing sector overall. The employment of Latinos in utilities and publishing, broadcasting, communication and information services was essentially unchanged from 2009 to 2013.

Employment Change for Non-Hispanics by Industry

Non-Hispanics continued to experience job losses in several industries during the economic recovery. Of the 18 industries delineated in this report, non-Hispanics gained jobs in 11 industries from 2009 to 2013 but lost jobs in the other seven. The industries that grew added 4.9 million jobs for non-Hispanics, and the industries that shrank subtracted 1.3 million for a net gain of 3.6 million jobs.

For non-Hispanics, jobs growth in the recovery was centered in three industries—professional and other business services (1.3 million new jobs from 2009 to 2013), hospitals and other health services (825,000), and durable goods manufacturing (725,000). Non-Hispanics also secured 527,000 new jobs in nondurable goods manufacturing for a total gain of 1.3 million manufacturing jobs during the recovery.

Job losses during the recovery for non-Hispanics were concentrated in publishing, broadcasting, communication and information services (378,000 jobs shed from 2009 to 2013), educational services (277,000) and public administration (265,000). Those add up to a loss of 920,000 jobs since late 2009.