Jobs In The Coming Decade? Health Care Tops The List

NPR's John Ydstie reports on where the most new jobs will likely be in the coming decade, and topping the list is: health care. Indeed, the top two occupations that are expected to provide the most new jobs, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, are registered nurses and home health aides. Ydstie writes:

Once again this decade, the BLS is projecting that the health care sector will be a leader in producing new jobs: 4 million of them, including high-skill, high-paying jobs like doctors and nurses. The service sector, which includes health care, is expected to produce a whopping 96 percent of all new jobs, while manufacturing employment continues to shrink.

For job seekers, Sommers (of the BLS) says nursing combines a huge number of openings with high pay — a median wage of more than $62,000 a year.

Meanwhile, The Boston Globe offers a glimpse of what life in the nursing arena might be like, with a story on nurse practitioner Judy Walsh.