Which is the hottest sector for jobs in the US?

New jobs in the US would increase by 10.8 percent by 2022, and a majority of them would be related to healthcare, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) said in its employment projections report for the decade.

This is in tandem with what's happening in the Indian healthcare industry, comprising hospitals, medical infrastructure, medical devices, clinical trials, outsourcing, telemedicine, health insurance and medical equipment, which has been recording a 15 per cent CAGR (compound annual growth rate). According to a report by Equentis Capital, the healthcare sector in India is expected to touch US$ 158.2 billion by 2017. Frost & Sullivan reports pin it at US$ 160 billion. The medical device and equipment market alone is expected to grow to around US$ 7.8 billion by 2016.

The healthcare uptick in both the US and India would be of great interest not only to job-seekers, but also investors looking for good options in an otherwise uncertain market.

50.6 million job openings

The US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) analyzes future demand for different types of goods and services, and projects the employment necessary to produce them. Most of the 10.8 percent employment growth is projected to be in service-providing industries, chiefly occupations and industries related to healthcare.

Of the 30 occupations projected to have the largest percentage increase, 14 are related to healthcare and five are related to construction. The report says that by 2022, 50.6 million job openings are expected. More than two-thirds of them, 67.2 percent to be precise, are projected to come from replacement needs. Those are jobs resulting from the need to replace workers who retire or otherwise permanently leave an occupation.

According to their report, which will be out on January 8, the healthcare and social assistance sector is projected to grow at an annual rate of 2.6 percent, adding 5.0 million jobs between 2012 and 2022 – that is nearly one-third of the total projected increase in jobs. The growth reflects, in part, the demand for healthcare workers to address the needs of an ageing population.Employment in the construction sector is projected to grow 2.6 percent annually. This equates to 1.6 million new jobs over the 2012-22 decade. The construction sector employment tops the chart among goods-producing sectors, but despite expected fast growth, this is still projected to be below the peak in 2006 at 7.7 million.

Four major occupational groups are projected to grow more than 20 percent – nearly double the overall growth--from 2012 to 2022: health-care support occupations (28.1 percent), healthcare practitioners and technical occupations (21.5 percent), construction and extraction occupations (21.4 percent), and personal care and service occupations (20.9 percent).

Five industry sectors are projected to have decreases in employment: manufacturing (-549,500); federal government (-407,500); agriculture, forestry, fishing, and hunting (-223,500); information (-65,200); and utilities (-56,400).

The projections are the foundation of the BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook, one of the most widely used career information resources in the US. The updated OOH will be available online on January 8, 2014.