College Courses.com Education & Career Blog

On my brief hiatus from covering the monthly employment situation reports, I skipped over a less than stellar report that was released by the BLS in July. But no worries, I’m back, and this time I’m here to recap an even worse report from August. Figures. But let’s move along to the discouraging details, shall we?

The national unemployment rate in the U.S. rose another four-tenths of a percentage point to reach 6.1 percent in August, the highest it’s been in five years. Total nonfarm payroll employment fell by 84,000 positions last month as well. With the employment numbers from July and June being revised to reflect larger losses than before, the total number of jobs that have been lost in our country since the start of 2008 now stands at 605,000.

These developments within the U.S. job market in August have done the most to spark discussions of a recession. The manufacturing industry bore the brunt of the cuts, posting a loss of 61,000 jobs last month. Almost 40,000 of these positions were lost in motor vehicles and parts manufacturing. Employment services also dropped 53,000 jobs over the month. Surprisingly, the construction sector only lost 8,000 positions in August, signifying a major slow-down in losses for the industry when compared with recent months. Wholesale trade cut another 10,000 positions, while retail trade dropped close to 20,000.

Job creation responsibilities, for the most part, fell solely on the shoulders of the health services industry. Health care and social assistance positions increased by 38,000 over the course of August. Food services and drinking places have officially fallen flat, adding only 2,300 jobs last month. Government managed to add 17,000 jobs as well, while the mining industry, which has been touted as a top-performing sector by the BLS as of late, added about 12,000 positions.

The average hourly earnings of U.S. workers jumped up another seven cents in August, and our average weekly earnings rose by almost half a percent to reach $611.32. In the last year, average hourly earnings in the country have increased by 3.6 percent.

The bad news continues to bear down on us this month, with the U.S. losing close to 50,000 jobs over the course of May and the unemployment rate rising by another half a percent. That, unfortunately, makes our country’s streak of declining payroll numbers five months strong. And seeing as I naturally possess a low level of optimism (I like to think of myself as a realist), I’m having trouble mustering up some words of encouragement for all of you regarding the latest BLS employment situation report. So in an effort not to pontificate on this “streak” of ours in a way that isn’t all gloomy and doomsdayish, I’ll cut straight to the facts.

The nation is currently flirting with an unemployment rate of 5.5 percent, which is a dramatic jump from April’s much more tolerable rate of an even 5.0 percent. The additional 49,000 positions that were dropped from the payroll totals in May bring our overall job losses in 2008 to 324,000. The employment situation report released on Friday morning specifically reported higher unemployment rates among adult men and women, teenagers, blacks, and whites. The number of newly unemployed persons in the nation spiked upward in May by 760,000 as well, bringing that segment of the population to 3.2 million.

Job losses and gains were, once again, standard. The construction industry suffered a loss of 34,000 positions. Manufacturing employment also trended downward (-26,000 jobs), as did retail trade (-27,000 jobs). Professional and business services rounded out the large losses in May with 39,000 less positions. Within this industry, temporary help services alone lost 30,000 jobs. Much of last month’s overall drop in nonfarm payroll employment could be contributed to the professional and business services sector. The industry fluctuates and hasn’t consistently lost jobs over the past few months, unlike the construction, manufacturing, and retail trade industries.

With regard to employment gains, health care posted one of the only significant numbers in May, adding 34,000 positions overall. This latest increase brings the health care sector’s job creation over the past 12 months to almost 400,000 positions.

In closing, the average workweek for production and nonsupervisory workers was unchanged (at 33.7 hours) over the past month. And the average hourly earnings of U.S. workers rose by another five cents in May — bringing the average weekly earnings of these employees to $604.58. Since May 2007, the average hourly wages for the country’s workforce have risen 3.5 percent.

I’m sure that over the past week or so, you’ve come across more “best of” and “year end” lists than you can stomach. So allow me to force a few more upon you:

Here you can read about 31 careers expected to have bright futures, particularly in 2008.

And here are a dozen more ahead-of-the-curve careers that are poised for future growth.

This final list outlines 13 overrated careers, or popular professions whose downsides are often overlooked.

I know that you are probably sick of lists and summaries and articles regarding everything about this year and the potential for next, but these U.S. News & World Report overviews are worth a look, especially if you are in the market for a new degree, a new career, or a long-anticipated job change. (New Year’s resolutions anyone?) Veteran career coach and author Marty Nemko compiled the career guides for anyone and everyone, and I enjoyed his fresh take on what can often times be a stale concept.

The first list highlights the best careers overall for the upcoming year, with some obvious inclusions such as registered nurses, pharmacists, engineers, investment bankers, and management consultants. The list was determined using both quantitative and qualitative information; the careers were ranked according to job satisfaction among workers, training difficulty, prestige, pay, and job market outlook according to data from professional organizations (like the U.S. Department of Labor).

The research for this primary list uncovered several emerging trends, all of which influenced the outcome of this year’s rankings. For instance, some blue-collar jobs (e.g., firefighters, cosmetologists and hairstylists, and locksmiths) are gaining momentum within a job market that traditionally venerates white-collar careers. These professions necessitate basic training, although degree programs are emerging in many of these fields for workers who want to secure higher-paying positions.

Government jobs are an optimal choice in 2008, based on their benefit packages, retirement options, and stable wages. You should consider a position’s resistance to offshoring as well. Careers that ranked well in this area, and that therefore made the list, include training specialists, ghostwriters, mediators, and user experience specialists.

The second list features a group of cutting-edge professions that are on their way towards becoming the best careers available. These jobs are expected to perform well in the above-mentioned criteria areas, mainly because of the following trends: growth in health care demand, globalization, digitization, terrorism prevention, and environmentalism. I’d like to point out that two of the careers–green collar consulting and emergency planning management–and the industries they’re focused in were discussed in previous CollegeCourses.com blog posts. That’s right, we can spot a promising career trend from a mile away.

The final list labels a handful of popular careers as overrated, which I can respect, because it encourages job seekers to challenge the conventional notion of a good job and look a little bit deeper. A few of these overrated jobs include working as an architect, an attorney, a chiropractor, a medical scientist, a chef, and a real estate agent. Nemko isn’t attempting to say that these are bad careers; they simply have drawbacks that are overlooked because of the prestige or the salary that the positions offer.

In the end, it’s all about doing something that makes you feel accomplished and happy. If you’re feeling confused, read the descriptions of the featured careers first. A bunch of these overviews come with recommended books and websites that can give you a better grasp of each profession. If you find yourself interested in a specific career after this additional research, Nemko suggests talking with a professionals who work in that field and shadowing one of them at his or her job for a week or so.

As always, CollegeCourses.com is here to help you, with various links and information regarding schools and training programs in your area, online, or in your intended profession.

This past Monday, Florida Metropolitan University joined a bigger (and supposedly better) brand of colleges by ditching its old name in favor of a new one. FMU will now be known as Everest University, and this change will affect all ten of its Florida-based campuses, as well as its popular online school. The name change was initiated by FMU’s parent company, Corinthian Colleges, Inc., as part of a rebranding effort for the organization’s collection of career-focused colleges.

With the addition of FMU as another branch of the Everest brand, Corinthian Colleges now runs over 75 Everest campuses in the United States alone. The corporation also operates colleges in a handful of Canadian provinces. Other divisions of the brand include Everest College and Everest Institute. Everest College has 15 campuses just in California, with additional locations in Arizona, Colorado, Illinois, Washington, and several other U.S. states. Everest Institute operates out of Massachusetts, Georgia, New York, Texas, and a few other places.

Even though many students are accustomed to the the Florida Metropolitan name, representatives for FMU and Corinthian Colleges, Inc. are confident that this will be a positive change for the schools involved. Because Everest institutions span so much of North America, graduates from Everest University will open themselves up to many more career opportunities. By adding reputable FMU locations to the list of Everest schools, the brand will gain more national recognition as well.

The curricula that was in place at the school before the name change will not be affected, and FMU’s former site emphasizes this idea with the following statement: “We offer the same great instructors, staff and classes — just with a nationally recognized name.” Therefore, Everest University still offers programs in health care administration, accounting, homeland security, computer information science, business administration, medical assisting, criminal justice, paralegal studies, and various other in-demand disciplines.

Everest College Online will also continue to provide students with internet-accessible programs in accounting, business, and criminal justice.

In my defense, I know that the title of this post is cheesy. But it’s kind of clever at the same time, so I’m leaving it up there.

Continuing on with the topic at hand, I’m not exactly sure what’s going on with our country’s job market, or our economy for that matter, but we generated pretty impressive payroll growth last month. According to the BLS employment report released this morning, 166,000 new jobs were created in October.

Now we all know that the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics likes to play tricks on us. Remember in September when they told us that the country had lost 4,000 jobs? That was pretty funny. Ok…maybe not. But at least we were preparing for the worst.

Don’t get me wrong, I’d like to rejoice over today’s employment situation report and the fact that we might have gained more than 150,000 jobs in October. But I’m a realist, or maybe a pessimist. Either way, I can’t devote valuable time to picking apart numbers that I think might be revised within a few days. So if it happens that by next month the 166,000 figure is still standing, I’ll make my post on the BLS report for November extra long and insightful.

That being said, here are some of the basic findings from the October report:

The unemployment rate for the country is holding steady at 4.7 percent, and total employment has topped out at 146.0 million citizens.

The health care industry created 34,000 jobs last month, food services and drinking places added 37,000, and professional and business services increased by 65,000 positions. (I will admit that the last number is unusual and worth a second look/some minimal research on a Friday afternoon.)

The manufacturing sector cut 21,000 jobs in October and construction lost 5,000, which is a big improvement over previous months.

Also, the average workweek remained unchanged at 33.8 hours, the average hourly earnings of workers increased by three cents to $17.58, and the average weekly income in the U.S. rose 0.2 percent to $594.20.

So there you have it, the bare essentials from October’s employment situation report. If the payroll numbers make it through to next month without being dramatically revised, I’ll eat my words (and probably look pretty foolish at the same time). But I suppose it would mean good things for our economy, and for that reason, I’ll cross my fingers and hope that they stay the same.

If the employment situation report from August had you worried, then the numbers from September will definitely improve your mood. Remember when the U.S. Labor of Bureau of Labor Statistics reported a net loss of 4,000 jobs for August, the first drop in payroll employment in four years? Well, they were wrong. In the September news release that was posted this morning, there were revised numbers for August, which placed employment growth for the month at a surprising (and encouraging) 89,000 jobs. And if that wasn’t enough to excite you, payroll employment in September continued to grow.

The U.S. added 110,000 jobs this past month, which is a big improvement over the potential loss in August. The population of unemployed persons remained stable at 7.2 million in September, which in turn kept the U.S. unemployment rate at 4.7 percent. Unemployment rates for all groups (men, women, teenagers, whites, blacks, Hispanics, and Asians) stayed about the same.

Although the goods-producing industries combined for a net loss of 33,000 jobs in September, the service-producing industries generated 143,000 new positions. Construction dropped 14,000 jobs, while manufacturing lost 18,000. Professional and business services added 21,000 positions, education and health services added 44,000, leisure and hospitality increased by 35,000 positions, and government employment grew by 37,000.

Residential specialty trade contractors lost the most footing in the construction industry, with a decrease of 15,000 jobs in September. The major winners in the service-producing industries were accounting and bookkeeping services (+10,000 jobs), management and technical consulting services (+9,700 jobs), ambulatory care services (+15,900 jobs), hospitals (14,800 jobs), social assistance facilities (+12,000 jobs), food services and drinking places (+25,400 jobs), and state government education (+27,000 jobs).

The average workweek remained unchanged at 33.8 hours, and the average hourly earnings for American payroll workers increased by seven cents to $17.57. Over the year, average hourly and weekly earnings in the U.S. have increased by 4.1 percent.

If you are considering a new career, trends from September and the past few months all point towards the health care, hospitality, accounting, and criminal justice fields. The schools at CollegeCourses.com offer degree programs in all of these disciplines, so browse our listings for a school near you or an online program that you can begin right away.

When you think of the best careers out there today, what do you think in terms of? Pay? Availability? Hours? In a report released by CareerJournal.com editors in July, the best careers were identified as having good intellectual stimulation, strong job security, a high level of freedom in what you do, and extensive contact with clients.

These may not be the most obvious qualities to look for in a position, but it seems that they can contribute to your overall satisfaction with one. CareerJournal.com collaborated with the polling company Harris Interactive to survey nearly 4,000 U.S. adults, and 44 percent of those polled described themselves as “highly satisfied” with their careers. When asked to describe their current jobs, this content group of professionals mentioned the four qualities listed above the most.

Everyone knows that job satisfaction is subjective, but the site believes that its results represent some common attributes that factor into whether or not someone is happy with their career. So with this information in hand, CareerJournal.com compiled its list of the best careers of 2006. (Because the survey was conducted in April of last year.) The methodology gets a little tricky at this point, but basically the editors sorted through data and employment projections to find several careers that met these criteria. If you’re unconvinced of how valid this research is, here is a much more lengthy description of how the site reached its findings.

What I’m trying to get to is a list of careers that can and should keep your satisfied in the upcoming years. People are happy with these careers because of the nature of the job and not because of their popularity in the current marketplace. However, if you are concerned about the job security component, know that many of these professions are crucial and should be creating new positions far into the future. The best careers of 2006 (in no particular order) are as follows:

1) Medical researchers
2) Physical therapists
3) Hospital and clinic managers
4) Social workers, counselors, and related managers
5) High school and special education teachers
6) Curriculum and instructional coordinators
7) Management consultants and analysts
8) Sales, marketing, and advertising managers

Unsurprisingly, the best careers all fit into the categories of health care, education, and business. And better yet, CollegeCourses.com can link you to schools that offer degrees in all of these areas.

CareerJournal.com also conducted interviews with real professionals who work in the careers that made its list. So if any of the jobs above interest you, in say curriculum development or health clinic management, be sure to read what these workers have to say. You will get to hear what they love about their careers, as well as what they see as challenges in their professions. For links to all of the interviews, just visit the 2006 Best Careers homepage.

So I know my last post included data from the U.S. Census Bureau, but I can’t help it. They are always releasing useful information. That’s their job! They survey and quantify and transfer everything into neat little charts and graphs so that the common folk (like you and I) can understand it better. You should be thankful for the U.S. Census Bureau, and my posts, and the organization’s new site: business.census.gov…

I’m not going to explain everything about the website here, because I think that you should all check it out for yourselves, but basically it analyzes all of the major American industries. Most of them fall within the business sector, and the data on the site discusses changes from 1997 to 2002. This isn’t the most recent information, but the new census hasn’t been conducted yet, so it’s the best you’re going to get. Most trends would indicate that the numbers have mostly grown (in a good way) since 2002, so think of these charts and their info as conservative estimates for 2007.

There are basically two categories of information on the site; one is called industry snapshots and the other is titled industry ratios. An industry snapshot will give you some of those nifty charts and graphs that I mentioned earlier, depending on which industry you link to. Some examples are landscaping services, automotive repair & maintenance, and loan brokers. You can also select “all other industries,” which will give you a more comprehensive look at the U.S. marketplace. That chart has plenty of links, so make sure to click on any industry that is of interest to you so that you can read more about it.

If you navigate back to the homepage and choose the industry ratios option, you will find a chart similar to the one that pops up under “all other industries” in the industry snapshots section. This chart offers some different figures that are worth looking at. In particular, the chart breaks the revenues down for each industry, tells you how many establishments exist in relation to the population, and pinpoints the annual earnings for an average payroll employee in each field. Some sample industries include manufacturing, finance & insurance, health care & social assistance, and wholesale trade. If you want an extended chart on any of these industries, their links are located on the left hand side of the chart.

That is all I am going to say, because the site really isn’t of any use unless you browse through it yourself. Even though it doesn’t post the latest numbers, it does provide you with an overview of how the industries have progressed in recent years. It is also a helpful tool for students who want to compare and contrast different areas of study. Can’t decide between a degree in management or art history? Well, those working in the management industry averaged about $68,000 a year in 2002, while employees at museums and other related institutions made around $24,000 annually.

Like I said earlier, you should be thankful for the U.S. Census Bureau, they are practically doing the work for you.

If a case of the Mondays has got you down, I’ve got some news that may help cheer you up: the average hourly earnings of American workers jumped another 6 cents in July! It may not sound like much, but that amounts to nearly 3% of the price of a gallon of gas. That’s of course in Spartanburg, South Carolina, a town that boasts the lowest gasoline prices in the country today. But in all seriousness, we should regard any progress as a good thing. So even though July’s payroll statistics are a little less than impressive, they are still encouraging…

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics released the payroll numbers this past Friday, reporting a total increase of 92,000 jobs across all industries in July. The nation’s unemployment rate continued to linger around 4.6 percent, a number that represents 7.1 million unemployed persons.

Groups of workers experienced little change in terms of unemployment, and the biggest shifts belong to teenagers and African Americans. The rate for teenagers improved from 15.8 to 15.2 percent in July. The African American workforce experienced a similar change, with its unemployment rate dropping from 8.5 percent to an even 8 percent.

Even though this past month brought about an upsurge in nonfarm payroll employment, July’s numbers represent some of the lowest in recent months. Fields responsible for the slight (but still beneficial) increase in jobs are health services, professional and business services, and service-producing trades in general.

Health care employment added 36,000 positions in July, specifically in physician’s offices, hospitals, and home health care situations. AIU, University of Phoenix, and Warren National University all offer health care-related degrees as part of their curriculum.

Food services and drinking places took on an additional 22,000 workers. Financial activities such as insurance carriers, credit intermediation, and investments also encountered an increase of 22,000 jobs. Computer systems design and related services grew by 15,000 positions over the month.

The promise that government jobs showed in June wavered considerably, with a loss of 28,000 jobs in July.

In general, July saw health care and food service jobs continue on in their upward trend while other areas struggled. The only distinct difference in job growth occurred in business and professional services. Also, the 6 cent increase in hourly earnings brings the national average to $17.45 per hour. Since 2006, hourly earnings have grown by nearly 4 percent.

I have to admit that I enjoy job market literature so much more when it is in list form. Lists quantify information, make topics easier to understand, and equal less reading for everyone. So even though Forbes.com posted this article last month, I couldn’t pass up a chance to talk about the 25 best-paying jobs in America versus (yup, you guessed it) the 25 worst-paying occupations.

For those of you who love lists as much as me, and pictures for that matter, I’ll direct you to the interactive slide shows that the site created outlining these lists. Here is the link for the 25 best-paying positions, as well as one for the 25 worst-paying. These slides offer details like the mean annual pay for each job, how much the salaries have increased since last year, and which region offers the highest pay rates for each position.

In terms of the article itself, the second half reads somewhat like a disclaimer, warning that the lists are merely a study of averages. Forbes used data from a government survey to compile its findings, and while we may not all trust the government, there really isn’t anywhere else to get this type of information, so let’s just run with it. Things to remember about the lists are that the numbers are representative of 2006, only 800 jobs were researched in the survey, and that the study couldn’t track or include household workers, the self-employed, and partners in unincorporated organizations.

Needless to say there is a margin of error involved, but the lists still represent a valuable resource for anyone investigating the nation’s job market. Whether you hope to change jobs or remain within the same industry, you can find out what you should be making and which locations hold the most opportunities for you. So let’s sum up these lists for everyone right now…

No big surprises in who dominated the best-paying jobs, with medical professions grabbing 13 out of the top 15 spots. If you were thinking about taking your parents’ advice and becoming a doctor or a lawyer, I’d advise you to stick to medicine…of literally any kind. Lawyers only made it to #16, with a mean annual wage of $113,660. I suppose you could settle for that too.

Anesthesiologists surpassed surgeons this year to reach the #1 position with yearly earnings of $184,340. Aside from airline pilots and air traffic controllers, management positions filled the rest of the list. If you aren’t interested in a career in medicine, schools that offer degree programs in management or administration are relatively easy to find. Browse CollegeCourses.com for management degrees in the areas of marketing, computer and information systems, sales, and finance.

Even though these salaries are impressive, some of you may consider them a little low to be the highest in our country. When averaging together so many salaries, that’s just what happens. The slide shows include the top-paying state and metro areas for each job, some of which boast an annual wage that doubles the national average.

It is also difficult to gauge the value of overtime earnings and alternative compensation. The author of the Forbes article, Paul Maidment, throws in the particularly extreme example of Steve Jobs to prove his point. The Apple co-founder and CEO’s salary equaled the misleading amount of $1 last year. He didn’t push for a raise, seeing as his stock options alone earned him over $645 million.

The same type of situation also exists with the worst-paying jobs. It is impossible to track undocumented workers who are paid less than minimum wage. As a result, the lowest annual income on the list belongs to fast food prep and service workers at $15,930. Hardly a livable wage, but still higher than what some people earn. The next lowest paid are fast food cooks, dishwashers, and dining room and cafeteria attendants. As you can assume, the food, hotel, and leisure industries occupy most of the spots on this list.

So even though many of the positions on the best-paying list require advanced degrees, you can’t beat the salaries they offer. And in terms of pursuing the career you love, don’t feel discouraged if you found it on the worst-paying list. I know I may sound redundant when I say this, but look into the field of management. Supervisors and administrators are needed in almost every line of work. As I mentioned in an earlier post, the food and leisure industries are constantly growing and an administrative position in hospitality management actually yields a good income. Remember, the lists offered by Forbes aren’t definitive, it all depends upon your location, your situation, and the dedication that you bring to the job.