In Career Clusters: Forecasting Demand for High School Through College Jobs, 2008–2018, researchers at the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce identified fields that will experience signficant job growth nationally and by state.

In North Carolina, the Business, Management, and Administration cluster will be the largest cluster overall, but Health Science will be the fastest growing. Jobs in the Health Science sector will increase by 27% by 2018. Health Science will add the most jobs in North Carolina through 2018, while Manufacturing will lose jobs.  In 2018, 39% of all jobs in North Carolina will be found in the Business, Management and Administration, Marketing, Sales and Services, and Hospitality and Tourism clusters.

The largest cluster—Business, Management, and Administration— will require substantial postsecondary education in 2018. It will grow by 11% for those with postsecondary education and 9% for those without. Jobs for high school graduates and high school dropouts will grow more slowly than jobs for those with postsecondary education. In North Carolina by 2018, there will be about 466,000 jobs for those with certificates.

Researchers predict that, over the next decade, the state will add over 500,000 workers.  By 2018, North Carolina will employ 2.1 million high school graduates and 2.8 million individuals with postsecondary training.