There is good news both nationally and locally for those seeking jobs in information technology and health care.
Monster.com, the country's largest online jobs database, has ranked the Twin Cities (limited to Minneapolis, St. Paul and Bloomington)
sixth among 28 major job markets in the country.
Nationally, IT and health care are leading the job growth by occupation. The local market reflects that trend, says Matt Henson, vice president of public relations for Monster. The Twin Cities' top three jobs in order: systems analyst, web developer and registered nurse.
State data confirms Monster's findings. Kyle Uphoff, regional analysis and outreach unit manager for Minnesota's Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED), reports a 79 percent increase over the last 12 months in job openings for health care practitioners such as registered nurses and pharmacists. Health care and social services as a whole are up 56 percent.
Computer and IT job openings have risen even faster: 112 percent in the last year, reports Uphoff.
Those two sectors dominate the state's
list of expected long-term growth by occupation, representing seven of the top 10 "growing industries." Atop the list is management and technical consulting services, with an expected 62 percent increase from 2009 to 2019. That matches a national trend toward more and more IT contractors and consultants, Monster's Henson notes.
Uphoff calls DEED's long-term projections "fairly conservative," with total overall job growth of only nine percent over 10 years--a "sluggish rate" of less than 1 percent per year.
While the Twin Cities may be hot for IT and health care, "this is not a tide that is going to lift all boats," cautions Uphoff. He notes that some sectors, like construction, may still be shedding jobs, while other recovering sectors will need to undergo substantial change in industry structure and practice before recovering.
For example (gulp): journalism.
Sources: Kyle Uphoff,
Department of Employment and Economic Development; Matt Henson,
Monster.comWriter: Jeremy Stratton