As part of any job search, I would advise staying abreast of the economic outlook for various industries. The best place to do so is on the U.S. Department of Labor’s website; specifically the Bureau of Labor Statistics. I am asked about the “hottest” sectors quite often, so I think a monthly post on the subject is on order.
We are all by now probably pretty familiar with the gloomy aspects of the employment outlook over the past 3 plus years. However there are some encouraging signs the past month in a variety of sectors:
“Professional and business services continued to add jobs in January (+70,000). About half of the increase occurred in employment services (+33,000). Job gains also occurred in accounting and bookkeeping (+13,000) and in architectural and engineering services (+7,000).”
“Over the month, employment in leisure and hospitality increased by 44,000, primarily in food services and drinking places (+33,000). Since a recent low in February 2010, food services has added 487,000 jobs. In January, health care employment continued to grow (+31,000). Within the industry, hospitals and ambulatory care services each added 13,000 jobs. Wholesale trade employment increased by 14,000 over the month. Since a recent employment low in May 2010, wholesale trade has added 144,000 jobs. Employment in retail trade continued to trend up in January. Job gains in department stores (+19,000), health and personal care stores (+7,000), and automobile dealers (+7,000) were partially offset by losses in clothing and clothing accessory stores (-14,000). Since an employment trough in December 2009, retail trade has added 390,000 jobs.”
It is also noted that a loss of 8,000 jobs was experienced in the motion picture and sound recording industry, and employment in construction increased by 21,000 in January, following a gain of 31,000 in the previous month.
According to the report, the unemployment rate declined by 0.2 percentage point in January to 8.3 percent, and total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 243,000 in January.
The full report can be found here
No comments:
Post a Comment