FORBES MAGAZINE - September 8, 2011
By any sober assessment the employment situation is bleak. According to the latest data, the official unemployment rate is 9.1%, meaning just under 14 million Americans are out of work. That's down only slightly from the peak 9.7% rate experienced during the depths of the recession. When you apply a broader and more reasonable definition of unemployment, including people who have given up looking for a job or are underemployed, the rate leaps to 16.1%, or more than 25 million adults out of a total of 156 million willing to work.
Gallery: The Jobs People Stay At Longest
Still there are bright spots obscured by broad-brush aggregate data. Lots of companies are hiring, and they aren't all tech companies. Heavy equipment maker Caterpillar, for instance, has added more than 10,000 jobs in the U.S. over the last 18 months. Careful parsing of the data reveals additional opportunities amid the general gloom. Over a five-year period health care workers and educators in places like Atlanta and Houston have good prospects. And no matter what the economic climate, lawyers, dentists and pharmacists always seem to thrive.
Companies that are hiring: Apple, Caterpillar, Cognizant, Google, MasTec, PricewaterhouseCoopers, TJX, Vertex
EDITED BY–Michael Noer with Christian Wolan
INFOGRAPHICS BY– Jon Bruner and David Lada
REPORTED BY–Susan Adams, Brian Caulfield, Daniel Fisher, Jenna Goudreau, Quentin Hardy, Matthew Herper, Joann Muller and Jennifer Rooney
