Austin’s workforce is growing and getting older, smarter and richer than the year before, according to U.S. Census survey data released in late September.

2014 Census statistics reveal a healthy labor market with near across-the-board job gains in every major industry and occupation. Bureau of Labor Statistics data also reveal the Austin area to be the most secure job market among major metropolitan areas nationally with only 3.2 percent of the workforce unemployed in August.

But as Austin’s job market grows, fewer entry-level opportunities are becoming available, according to Census data.

Management, business, science and arts occupations, which make up nearly half of Austin jobs, grew by 6.2 percent between 2013 and 2014 and 29.1 percent since 2010. The number of people reporting to have service occupations, on the other hand, decreased year-over-year by 1.6 percent and grew only 12.1 percent the past five years. For comparison, Austin’s eligible workforce grew faster—3.4 percent—from 2013 to 2014 and by 15.8 percent since 2010.

Such a trend is consistent with other major metros nationally, said Tara Sinclair, chief economist for Indeed.com, an Austin-based job aggregator that bills itself as the world’s largest job search website.

“This is an ongoing policy issue that economists describe as a hollowing out of the middle,” Sinclair said. “We’re seeing strong growth of jobs that require a college education and above, and we’re also seeing growth in lower-skilled services. The middle-range jobs—good-paying, non-degree requiring jobs—have grown more slowly nationwide.”

Education, health care and other professional jobs that typically require training, experience or both help comprise some of the biggest Austin job gains the past half-decade. In addition, Indeed.com recently deemed Austin one of four cities nationally to be drawing the majority of young tech talent.

“It’s more likely people outside of Austin are looking for a tech job in Austin than the Austinites,” Sinclair said.

The Greater Austin Chamber of Commerce is responsible for helping recruit some of that outside talent to Austin.

Drew Scheberle, the chamber’s senior vice president for education and talent, said the city embraces its tech reputation but is quick to diversify and avoid a repeat of the mid-1990s when Austin was overly reliant on the semiconductor industry.

“City leadership has to be supportive of trying to reduce unemployment and provide opportunity across the board,” Scheberle said. “When you’re overly reliant on one sector, you’re vulnerable.”

Scheberle said he is targeting more companies interested in establishing their headquarters in Austin. In return, Scheberle said those headquarters typically provide more of those middle-range jobs mentioned by Sinclair.

“A Dell, for example, has the capacity if they want to train smart entry-level people into other areas,” Scheberle said. “Smaller companies don’t have those resources, so they have to hire precise fits who know a lot more what they’re going to do on day one.”

All that recruiting has created more building activity in Austin, yet the number of construction workers is down 5.7 percent from 2013 to 2014.

Phil Thoden, president/CEO of The Associated General Contractors’ Austin chapter, said the high construction activity has made for a competitive job market that has some projects competing for workers.

“This is a good problem to have, but it is a problem,” Thoden said. “It’s a result of the demand of construction.”

Ken Simonson, AGC’s chief economist, elaborated to explain that most construction employees are sometimes counted in specialty trade categories that may negate evidence of industry growth.

“I’m confident growth will continue in Austin if companies can find the workers,” Simonson said.

Thoden acknowledged that all of Texas is booming with construction projects, and many of those workers migrate to the highest-paying opportunities. Sinclair with Indeed.com said employers could take notice of such trends.

“Some companies may have to make their jobs more appealing to be more competitive,” she said. “That’s good news for their employees because that means higher wages and better working conditions.”