The Jobs apocalypse predicted by artificial intelligence has not materialized, according to a recent report by The Economist titled “The jobs apocalypse is postponed. An AI jobs boom is here,” published in September 2026. Instead of widespread job losses, the report finds that AI has actually increased employment in the United States, with 162,000 new jobs added in August and an unemployment rate of 4.1%, among the lowest in decades.
Infrastructure drives employment growth
The first explanation centers on AI’s physical infrastructure requirements. Developing and operating AI systems demands significant investment in data centers, energy systems, and cooling technologies, creating a surge in labor demand. The Economist estimates that five industries related to this infrastructure added nearly 320,000 jobs above trend since 2023. Roles such as electricians, HVAC technicians, and network engineers have become scarce, driving unusual wage increases for these positions.
A second wave of jobs emerged from AI itself. New roles include engineers who build AI models, data labelers and evaluators, and corporate strategists deciding how to deploy the technology. The report calculates approximately 640,000 AI-related jobs were created in the U.S. between 2023 and 2025.
Unexpected growth in seemingly automated sectors
The third factor defies early predictions: some professions once thought doomed are actually growing. AI enables customers to access services more efficiently, which can increase overall demand for those services. This expansion compensates for time saved through automation, resulting in higher total volumes rather than job losses.
In the legal sector, a counterintuitive trend has emerged. Despite fears that junior lawyers would be most vulnerable to automation, paralegal employment grew nearly 11% between 2023 and 2025. As AI streamlines legal work, firms take on more cases and require additional staff to manage them.
The International Monetary Fund found that while roughly 60% of jobs in advanced economies face AI exposure, half gain productivity while the other half may suffer. Adaptation capacity matters more than technology itself, according to the World Economic Forum, which projects more jobs will be created than destroyed by 2030, though 59% of workers will need to reskill.
Nevertheless, enthusiasm about AI-generated jobs should be tempered. The report notes that the employment surge concentrates in specific occupations rather than the broader labor market, suggesting uneven benefits across sectors and skill levels.
