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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.

Earlier this morning, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics released its September report on metropolitan area employment and unemployment. The findings from this report were somewhat divided, highlighting both positive and negative changes in the nation’s 369 metro locations. When compared with statistics from a year earlier, unemployment rates in September were higher in 184 areas, lower in 154, and unchanged in 31 locations.

Idaho Falls, Idaho had the lowest jobless rate at 1.3 percent, and three additional areas in Idaho posted the next lowest unemployment rates at 1.7 percent. Overall, 126 metropolitan locations registered jobless rates below 4.0 percent (down from 151 locations a year ago). September’s highest unemployment rates originated from El Centro, California (at 20.8 percent) and Yuma, Arizona (at 15.7 percent). These regions traditionally have higher jobless rates because of extreme weather conditions and an emphasis on agriculture. This past month, 18 metro areas in the U.S. posted unemployment rates of at least 7.0 percent. When compared with the national unemployment rate of 4.5 percent, 208 locations recorded rates below the U.S. average in September, 150 metros posted higher rates, and 11 areas reported the same rate.

According to the 2000 Census, 49 metropolitan areas in the country have a population of one million or more people. Of these nearly 50 locations, the Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale (AZ) region posted the lowest jobless rate at 2.9 percent. On the opposite end of the spectrum, the Detroit-Warren-Livonia (MI) area reported the highest unemployment rate among large metropolitan areas, coming in at 7.7 percent.

Since September of 2006, payroll employment has risen in most U.S. metropolitan locations, with 311 areas reporting over-the-year increases this past month. (43 areas reported decreases, while 13 had no change in jobs.) The New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island (NY, NJ, PA) region has had the largest employment gains since last year, generating 69,600 new jobs. Two areas in Texas had the next highest increases in payroll numbers. The largest over-the-year decrease in employment occurred in Detroit-Warren-Livonia (MI); the region suffered a loss of 34,800 jobs. Employment losses dropped off considerably after that, with the next highest loss only reaching 2,400 positions (in Flint, Michigan).

On the whole, the numbers from September revealed a relatively stable employment situation for most metro areas. Although the unemployment rates have risen a bit, payroll employment has increased overall. The Detroit region posted poor numbers all around, but that isn’t a huge divergence from previous months. If you live in the vicinity of Phoenix or Idaho Falls, the employment situation is looking good for you.

It is a well-known fact that returning to school to further your education will increase your chances of being hired. If you want to earn your degree from an institution nearby where you hope to work, consider applying to schools in Texas, California, and New York. According to the BLS regional employment report for September, which was released last week, these are the states with the most impressive growth in jobs.

This will have to be a quick post, as the end of the workday is quickly approaching and I have little affinity for college courses and career talk after 5:30 p.m. Don’t worry, I still have some good news for you. The housing market is still looking pretty treacherous, but it turns out that some areas have remained stable in the real estate industry.

This news probably doesn’t sound that encouraging, but believe me when I tell you it is. Economists predict that the housing market will continue to plummet in the upcoming months, and major relief and recovery isn’t expected until 2009. That being said, if you are interested in the construction, real estate, and mortgage lending fields, these locations are your best bet for a stable living.

So, without further ado, America’s most stable housing markets are as follows:

1) Seattle, Washington
2) Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
3) Columbus, Ohio
4) Dallas, Texas
5) St. Louis, Missouri
6) Cincinnati, Ohio
7) Atlanta, Georgia
8) San Antonio, Texas
9) San Francisco, California
10) Fort Worth, Texas

To take a look at the handy slideshow that Forbes.com compiled with the basic statistics and facts for each housing market, click here.

And that’s about all that I have to offer for today. The article linked above goes into a lot more detail about the markets themselves and the methodology behind the rankings. The stability of the markets is largely determined by the state of the local economies, new construction contracts, foreclosure rates, local credit markets, sales rates, affordability, and inventory.

In closing, several U.S. areas have remained strong in the face of the current economic downturn. So it looks like the housing market has a little fight left in it, and professionals interested in this industry shouldn’t call it quits just yet.

I know that you want some good news after last Friday’s post, and that is exactly what I plan on giving you today. Despite the damage that the weakening housing market has had on our economy lately, the great news is that hot job markets still exist. In abundance! Or at least Bizjournals.com likes to think so.

On Monday the business site released its report on the hottest job markets in the U.S. this year, with a lot of Western states coming into play in 2007. Since the start of 2002, the number of private-sector positions across the country has increased by 6.4 percent. Here is a brief summary of where some of these jobs cropped up:

In Phoenix, Arizona, positions have grown over 23 percent in the past five years, which nearly quadruples the national growth rate. The AZ market also led all other U.S. metros in jobs created since 2002 at 325,100.

Second behind Phoenix on the hot market list is Salt Lake City, Utah, with positions there growing 16.3 percent since 2002. At 11.3 percent, Salt Lake City boasts the highest growth rate in the nation over the past two years.

Boise, Idaho slid into the third spot with a 2.1 percent unemployment rate as of June 2007. The metro also saw its jobs increase by 21.3 percent over the past five years.

The Riverside-San Bernardino, California area grabbed fourth place honors with over 233,000 new jobs and 27.3 percent growth since 2002.

Houston, Texas rounds out the top five with an even 10 percent growth, 198,700 new positions since 2002, and 69,500 jobs coming just this past year.

You can find the rankings in their entirety here, as well as some other category winners here.

Texas beat out all the other states with the most hot job markets on the list. Houston, Dallas-Fort Worth, and Austin all made it into the top ten. If you are looking for a new occupation in Texas, Houston is known for energy jobs (think green technology), Dallas-Forth Worth is known for finance, and Austin is known for technology.

Other areas that made it into the top twenty were Las Vegas, Seattle, Orlando, Raleigh, Honolulu, and Jacksonville. Earning your degree from a nearby school in one of these regions could be a great way to break into these promising markets, so take a look at some colleges in Washington, Florida, and North Carolina while you’re at CollegeCourses.com.

Cowboys are moving aside for the nuclear power process technicians of the world. Well, they are in Texas at least.

A shortage of vocationally-trained workers has prompted various communities in the Texas Gulf Coast region to organize programs to groom students for specialized positions. (Think welders and machinists.) Liberty County, located two counties over from Houston, formed Liberty County Workforce Academy to prepare for the shortage, which will result from petrochemical plant expansions in neighboring Jefferson County. In order to familiarize surrounding areas with the program, the county launched a five-month pilot session that finished up two months ago in May, which was well received by many of those who participated.

Meanwhile, Matagorda County (about three counties over from Liberty) renovated an abandoned Kmart building into a training center for nuclear power plant workers. Students taught there will hopefully fill jobs generated because of the South Texas Project, a local plant that transforms nuclear energy into electricity and that is set to double in size in the next few years.

Former farmhand and self-proclaimed cowboy Tyler Adams, 19, intends to take advantage of a scholarship that will fund his classes at the nearby training facility. Nuclear power process technicians pull in about $60,000 a year, which Adams admits he will need if he ever wants to start a family of his own.

The makeshift academy in Liberty County (and the inspiration for the Matagorda program) operated night classes with the help of community college instructors. Participants covered topics like welding, process technology, and industrial maintenance. In preparation for the upcoming fall session, the directors have set up additional locations and included course material in subjects like diesel mechanics. Certification training will also be available for technicians involved in the emergency medical, dental, and nursing fields.

Essentially, Texas has started to create institutions that pick up where vocational training leaves off in high school, allowing students who wouldn’t normally attend college to receive the training they need for these specialized jobs. Many of the courses offered through this program also count towards associate degrees if the participants choose to continue on with their education.

Because of impending refinery expansions in the Gulf Coast region that look to total $15 billion, authorities project a shortage of close to 12,000 industrial workers in process technology, maintenance, and construction jobs in Texas. The Matagorda territory in particular has years before the applications for their plant renovations go through, but the programs are eager to start training students now. The paid apprenticeships at the plants require two-year technical associate degrees, and the actual apprenticeships can take several years to complete. In addition to the technology programs, the Matagorda facility plans to bring in technical college instructors to cover the construction trades.

Even though public schools are lessening their emphasis in vocational education, the industrial growth in Texas proves that college graduates with technical degrees will be in high demand in the upcoming years. Our site includes extensive information on colleges in Texas, many of which happen to be technical schools.

So if you are looking for skill-based job opportunities, remember that employers in Texas are on the hunt for ambitious workers. The projected shortage has inspired communities to form their own schools, but these programs can only offers students preliminary training. If you are serious about making one of the trades outlined above your livelihood, you will need a more advanced degree from an established school, and CollegeCourses.com is the perfect place to start your research.

Place your fears about offshoring and foreign immigration aside. New studies suggest that there are enough technology-based jobs to satisfy the needs of both domestic and international workers, especially in California.

To start off, take a look at Barrie McKenna’s article “Offshoring May Not Be the Real Job Killer.” In the piece, McKenna cites theorist Jacob Funk Kirkegaard, whose study paints a more optimistic picture for the future of American workers. Kirkegaard claims that the revolution of technology may be responsible for the transfer of American jobs into foreign hands, and that the impact of offshoring on the nation’s job pool has been exaggerated.

The article also quotes some data from government agencies that Kirkegaard uses to reinforce his theory, such as the following: In 2004 and 2005, slightly less than one million Americans were victims of mass layoffs in a labor force of roughly 150 million. Offshoring accounted for just 4 percent of those lost jobs, or 1/25 of all laid-off workers.

McKenna maintains, with the aid of Kirkegaard’s study, that America is “still a magnet for higher-end work,” and uses the example of computer engineering jobs appearing in place of diminishing computer programming and call center positions (which have traditionally been outsourced to places like China and India).

For those still weary of the threat that the foreign workforce poses on job opportunities in the U.S., a report issued by the Public Policy Institute of California on May 23rd may help to assuage those fears. The report concludes that importing employees from other areas in the country and abroad still may not solve the state’s growing shortage of educated workers.

With California’s economy projected to grow in the upcoming decades, and the number of skilled jobs with substantial salaries on the rise, the report suggests that neither domestic nor international migration (CA’s college grads are increasingly likely to come from India) will be able to fill the void. Specifically, the technology, biosciences, and health services sectors of California’s economy will suffer the most if more college-educated workers fail to journey into the state.

Furthermore, two out of every five jobs (41%) in California will soon require a degree. And with only 32 percent of the state’s “working-age” adults projected to have a college education by 2025, California must begin searching now for qualified workers to help propel their economy forward.

In closing, if you are interested in any of the technology fields, offshoring may actually increase the quality of your job pool in the future, and California may be a good place to start searching for educational opportunities.

Despite the years that have passed since the financial scandals with Enron and Adelphia Communications, accounting firms still aim to hire big numbers to avoid any fudged paperwork and unwanted legal issues. In an article entitled “Where Hiring is the Hottest,” Alex Kingsbury writes that: “the practical upshot is that companies now need more eyes watching the books.” On the statistical side, the U.S. government estimates an 18 to 26 percent increase in jobs for accountants over the next few years that won’t reach its peak until 2014.

Many companies are looking towards students to satisfy this need. Schools in Texas report that the presence of professional recruiters visiting their campuses has doubled from previous years, with 95 percent of accounting majors at the University of Texas securing jobs before graduation. With UT providing a perfect example of the benefits of studying numbers while in school, experts vehemently insist that students are the future of accounting in Texas and throughout the rest of the country.

Because of this need for accountants, most corporations offer an attractive entry-level salary for college graduates. The U.S. Department of Labor cites the median salary for accountants and auditors as $50,770. And that was in 2004!

If the fact that accountants make a very comfortable living and have a plethora of job opportunities to choose from doesn’t sound like news to you, take a look at Robert Elsenpeter’s article “This Year’s Best Accounting Jobs,” which details the five “hot” jobs in accounting this year. Not content with the current income level for accountants nationwide? The salaries for these positions are expected to grow even higher in the months to come.

As Elsenpeter writes in his article, “It is no secret that accountants love numbers.” If you’re interested in accounting, you’ll love the number of offers coming your way after you earn your degree. (This is just a guess, but the number of zeros at the end of your paycheck will probably put a smile on your face too.)

Searching for opportunities in health care? Well look no further than the state of Connecticut. With vacancy rates for critical health care professionals reaching 6 to 11 percent in most of the hospitals there, a report released by the Connecticut Hospital Association estimates that the situation will only worsen in the next decade, placing the state in contention for the worst nursing shortage in the country. (Alaska currently holds the undesirable title.)

This shortage also extends to many of the allied health care fields, such as pharmacists, respiratory therapists, and physical therapists. The U.S. Department of Labor reports that these specialized professions (which also extend to radiological technology, speech-language pathology, and clinical laboratory sciences) represent approximately 60 percent of the nation’s health care workforce. In addition, the shortage for these types of workers could reach 2.5 million by the year 2020.

With the first round of baby boomers having just reached retirement age, the need for health care workers continues to grow as the current pool of professionals ages. Although this trend poses a threat to the quality of health care that many Americans will receive in the upcoming years, it also signifies far-reaching opportunities for employment. Connecticut is simply one of the first areas (and surely won’t be the last) to feel the effects of the overwhelming need for health care looming just around the corner.

So how can you assist in alleviating this nationwide issue? Earn your degree in a health care field, and achieve job security by helping others.

The job market grew briskly in New York City by the end of last year, according to Crain’s New York Business and the number of jobs increased by 62,300 for the entire year. Another 17,500 were added in January of this year, keeping the unemplyment rate below 5% for six straight months. In all, the city’s labor market grew by 1.7% in 2006, according to the state Labor Department.

The sectors with the biggest additions were construction, which was revised up by more than 2%; and business and professional services, up 1.65%. Despite high fuel costs and financial problems in the airline industry, the number of aviation jobs in the city was revised upward by 6%, Mr. Brown says, showing the industry locally is “benefiting as the local and national economy grow.”

Times Union reports the job market is a bit tougher in New York’s Capital Region, the area around Albany, where the unemployment rate was 4.4% in January 2007, slightly higher than the 4.3% recorded a year earlier. The area’s labor market did grow by 0.5% and jobs were created in education and health services, leisure andhospitality, and construction and mining. Manufcturing, business and professional services, nd the government sector all saw a decline in number of jobs.

The unemplyment rate for the entire state of New York was 4.9% last January compared to 5.2% in January 2006.

The Texas Workforce Commission reports today that Texas is seeing very strong job growth. The state’s economy added 243,700 jobs in 2006, the unemployment rate fell to 4.5% last January from 5.2% in January 2006. Professional and business services grew by 50,000 jobs last year, leisure and hospitality by 40,000.

The Conference Board reported three days ago that online job ads grew by 622,000 from January to February. Last month there were 3.8 million online job ads, 18% more than in February 2007.

The U.S. Labor Department reports that initial jobless claim fell 10,000 to 328,000 for the week ending March 3 (ie, last week).

Despite the upswing in Information Technology jobs discussed yesterday, this industry is only trying to recoup the losses of nearly 1.1 million jobs in the last five years. The future of the tech industry is looking brighter, but it has hardly fulfilled the promise that economists and labor specialists expected or hoped in the late 1990s, when it was looked upon as the industry with the most potential to take over the market for high end, educated jobs. Meanwhile, factories are continuing to close, retail businesses are continuing to scale back, and even those industries that are healthy are not adding many new jobs.

The by-line beneath Business Week’s cover story reads, “Since 2001, the health-care industry has added 1.7 million jobs. The rest of the private sector? None.” It’s perhaps a slight simplification of the fact — the majority of industries have seen at least a sliver of job growth, and some, like the real estate industry, has been quite prosperous, but it’s certainly true that the only one that is exploding is the Health Care industry. But in his article, “What’s Really Propping Up the Economy,” Michael Mandel calls Health Care “the main American job program for the 21st century,” noting that “with more than $2 trillion in spending — half public, half private — health care is propping up local job markets in the Northeast, Midwest, and South, the regions hit hardest by globalization and the collapse of manufacturing.”

Mandel cites examples from all over the country, beginning in Philadelphia, Pennyslvania, where 4,000 new jobs have been added at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia in the last six years, while non-health-care businesses added a negligible amount by comparison. Johnstown, in the same state, was hit hard by the collapse of the steel mills, factories, and coal mines that once supported the town, and now the town’s economy is only held up by Conemaugh Health System, employing 5,000 of the town’s 23,000 residents.

In Cleveland, Ohio, the Cleveland Clinic is the city’s largest employer with 29,000 residents working for them; the CEO of the company estimates that its business supports at total of 75,000 jobs. The next three top employers in Cleveland are all also in Health Care. Some areas of the U.S. are adding more Health Care jobs than others, and these high-growth states are dubbed the “Health Belt.” Mandel continues to track the trend to Detroit, Michigan, North Carolina, and discuss the slightly different situation in Florida and Arizona, which you can investigate yourself by reading the full article.

Because the bottom line, is that “if current trends continue, 30% to 40% of all new jobs created over the next 25 years will be in health care.” Mandel notes that the government’s expenditures on Health Care are actually what is fueling the job growth, perhaps secretly following the theories of John Maynard Keynes, a British economist who stated that the government should be responsible for creating jobs in order to stimulate growth. The author is wary of the unbalanced economy that this could create, but for someone looking for a new career with job security, you couldn’t make a safer bet than Health Care.

After all, it’s a field with reasonable wages and opportunities for entrance on all levels. The main expenditure in the Health Care field is human labor, and so most of the $2 trillion governmental funding is actually going directly to the workers. It’s also a market that can’t be realistically outsourced, like many IT jobs. “Health care is all home-produced,” points out Uwe Reinhardt, a Princeton University economist and health-care expert.

Mandel states that the most promising factor in the Health Care industry is that it “has taken over the role manufacturing used to play in providing opportunities for less skilled workers to move up.” Jobs are available on all levels, but the majority of them require some training or certification, and the more education, the better the job will be. So start to build a secure future for yourself now, and take a look at the Health Care degrees that we can connect you with today.

If you live in the “Health Belt,” there are no end of schools available to jumpstart your new career in Health Care. If you live in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the Sanford Brown School has programs in Medical Assisting, Medical Billing and Coding, Sonography, Ultrasound, Surgical Technology, Nursing, and other Health Care-related fields; elsewhere in Pennsylvania, the Western School of Health and Business in Monroeville and Allied Medical and Technical Careers in Forty Fort and Scranton have just as many opportunities.

At the north end of the Health Belt in Maine, the Seacoast Career School in Sanford offers degrees in Medical Assisting and Medical Billing and Coding. To the south, Bryman College in New Orleans, Louisiana, has programs in Dental Assisting, Massage Therapy, Medical Administrative Assisting, Medical Assisting, and Medical Insurance Billing/Coding. Cleveland, Ohio, boasts its own branch of the Sanford Brown Institute, among the many rich opportunities for schooling and working to which the Midwestern Health Belt lays claim. Resources are literally too numerous to mention, so browse your own state to see which is nearest you.

And no matter where you live, excellent online degrees are available to you in your own home, 24 hours a day. The University of Phoenix offers a Bachelor’s in Health Care Services and a Master’s in Nursing. Anthem College Online is one of many to offer a Bachelor’s in Health Mangament/Administration, but also offers programs in Dental Assisting, Medical Assistanting, Massage Therapy, Hospital Unit Coordinating, Medical Billing & Coding, Pharmacy Technician, X-ray Technician, and Surgical Technology. Many of our online schools provide similar opportunties, so take the first step to allowing your new job in Health Care “prop up” your household economy, in addition to helping the community and facing the needs of the entire country.

A discussion of his article is ongoing at Michael Mandel’s own blog at Business Week; an excellent perspective is also available at The Big Picture.