Some of the primary indicators of the characteristics of Greater Philadelphia's workforce include:

• The 5th highest labor force among the nation’s largest metro areas, with a total of 3.16 million workers in February 2012.
• More 956,000 workers in Management, Business, Financial, and Professional & Related occupations in 2010, 33.7% of all jobs.
• About 925,400 jobs in occupations in 2010 requiring some post-secondary education for an entry level position; the 34% share of total employment was 6th highest among the 15 largest MSAs.
• Almost 608,200 jobs, or 22.3% of the total, were in occupations needing a Bachelor’s degree or higher to obtain an entry level position in 2010; the share was 6th highest among the 15 largest MSAs. In addition, 127,000 jobs required an Advanced degree, the 4.7% share ranked 5th among the 15 largest MSAs.
• A high level of productivity as shown by $130,900 of Gross Regional Product per worker in 2011, well above the US figure of $114,900.

The quality of Greater Philadelphia's workforce is shown by the concentrations of employment in occupational and industry clusters that require highly skilled and productive workers in 2010, including:

• 147,700 workers in Information and Communications Technology (ICT) occupations.
• Almost 937,500 persons employed in Creative Class occupations as defined by Richard Florida; accounting for 33.1% of total GPR employment.
• 151,400 workers in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM), 5.4% of total employment, and a rate of 23.91 STEM jobs per 1,000 residents.
• More than 1,149,000 workers in Knowledge occupations as defined by the Economic Development Administration (EDA), comprising 40.6% of total employment in 2010.
• Nearly 466,400 jobs in the Professional and Business Services (PBS) industry sector in 2012; more than 313,000 were in sub-sectors (e.g., Scientific Research and Development, Law, Accounting, Computers, Scientific and Technical, and Management) with employment concentration ratios of 1.5 or higher.
• Over 43,700 persons that were employed in Arts and Culture occupations as defined by New England Foundation for the Arts in 2010.

Source: Global Insight. Bureau of the Census County Population Estimates. Global Insight.

To see further employment trends within the Greater Philadelphia region, visit:

The Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission Population and Employment Forecasts*, 2000-2030.

Business Reviews and Economic Indexes for the Greater Philadelphia region, published by the Federal Reserve Bank.

Employment by Industry Sector in the Greater Philadelphia region.