Statistics Show Nonprofit Sector a Major Player in Job Market

Charitable organizations accounted for more than 10 percent of U.S. employment in 2012 and trailed only the retail and manufacturing industries as a private-sector provider of jobs, the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reports, citing figures from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The nonprofit workforce grew steadily from 2007 to 2012 as businesses shed jobs amid the financial crash and ensuing recession, highlighting the sector’s growing prominence as a player in the national economy.

“They behave differently than for-profits,” said Wojtek Sokolowski, a Johns Hopkins University researcher who worked with the federal bureau to compile the first-of-its-kind examination on the economic impact of 501(c)(3) groups. “That’s an important message, not just to nonprofit people but to everyone who is interested in job creation and how the economy works.”

Read a Chronicle of Philanthropy article on the nonprofit jobs report.