Internet resources outline employment trends

Employment Projections Home Page

(www.bls.gov/emphome.htm)

The federal Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) is the biggest and best ongoing source of comprehensive employment projections for this country.

Its data is updated and released in November of odd-numbered years and is most readily accessible in its publications Occupational Outlook Handbook and Occupational Outlook Quarterly.

Only 10-year projections are done for the nation as a whole, but the occupational and industrial coverage is quite detailed. This site is a good place for the beginner or casual observer, since it doesn't overwhelm you with unwanted detail.

Particularly useful if you're just getting your feet wet are the "Most Requested Tables." There you can quickly find industries and occupations undergoing the greatest positive percentage change, jobs with the highest projected numerical change and fastest-growing occupations by level of education and training.

Labor Market Information

(www.works.state.mo.us/lmi/occ/index.htm)

Each state prepares its own employment projections, using input from the BLS national projections. For Missouri, you will find statewide, St. Louis, Kansas City and "service delivery area" projections.

Greene County and six other nearby counties make up Service Delivery Area 8. This site gives you summary narrative, tables and graphs, as well as a means of obtaining the print publications containing the complete data.

Wages and Trends Occupation Search

(www.acinet.org/acinet/occ_sea1.htm)

America's Career InfoNet provides user-friendly software to manipulate BLS and state data. This produces Occupation Reports detailing wages and trends within particular occupations.

Be sure to click on the "Detailed Trends" link at the bottom of each report to compare trends for similar occupations. This makes a solid career-search tool.

The 50 Hottest Jobs in America

(pathfinder.com/money/features/bestjobs_0395/bestjobsopener.html)

This site from Money magazine describes what's happening in today's shifting job market and offers tips on how to get ahead in any occupation. The top 50 careers are chosen from the 13,000 job classifications recognized by the BLS[[In-content Ad]]