Let’s talk about jobs.
The unemployment rate in the United States is at 3.7 percent and many businesses are desperately looking to hire workers.
If you’re looking for work, do you know which states have the best likelihood of your finding employment?
Personal finance website WalletHub released its report 2022’s Best & Worst States for Jobs.
WalletHub compared the 50 states across 35 key indicators for job-market strength, opportunity and economic vitality. Data includes employment growth, median annual income and average commute time.
The best states to find a job, according to the report, are Washington, Vermont, New Hampshire, Colorado and Minnesota. Virginia is the eighth best state to find a job. Virginia is first for unemployment rate and median annual income in the U.S.
The worst states to find employment are West Virginia, Kentucky, Mississippi, Louisiana and Arkansas.
Experts offer commentary on the career fields expected to experience the highest rate of job growth in the next 10 years.
“Areas of expected growth, that also provide good earnings potential, include: medical professions below the level of the doctor, including physicians assistants and nurse practitioners down through lower-paying positions such as phlebotomists; jobs in clean energy, including wind and solar installation and maintenance; data scientists and statisticians; software developers, analysts, webpage creators, and maintainers; mental health counseling and other therapists, including physical therapists and athletic trainers,” Joyce Jacobsen, a professor at Hobart and William Smith Colleges and at Wesleyan University, said in a press release.
According to Marick F. Masters, a professor at Wayne State University, healthcare, leisure and hospitality, advanced technology, data and information analysis and alternative energy will see the highest job growth.
“Jobs that involve the provision of care and services for the elderly and infirm are like to grow considerably. Included among the specific jobs expecting growth are nurse practitioners, statisticians, health services managers, data analysts, and technicians working in alternative energy,” Masters said in the press release.
What can we expect from the job market in 2023?
“I strongly expect the Federal Reserve’s tightening monetary policy to absorb much of the excess labor demand that our labor market is currently experiencing,” Joshua M. Congdon-Hohman, an associate professor at College of the Holy Cross, said. “Assuming only moderate increases in labor supply, I expect to see little impact on the unemployment rate but to see a larger impact on wage growth, as intended by the Fed. I do not expect to see major job losses unless there is a significant recession caused by over-tightening or external economic factors.”
Unless a significant recession happens in the U.S., Jacobsen said employment growth will continue in health care and technology, but some downturn could happen in technology “as a long-awaited shakedown regarding startups may occur (twitter layoffs), and continued instability in food services as restaurants struggle to find the right balance with continuing employment shortages and rising food costs.”
Masters said that local policymakers can begin to help diversify and strengthen local economies by having requisite physical and human infrastructure in place, including transportation, educational centers for research and development, and safe communities.
“Second, local communities need to attract capital, by (a) signaling to financiers that they can be force multipliers, (b) ensuring access to distribution networks, product innovation and development, and communications systems that connect customers to producers and suppliers. Third, localities need to reduce the cost of business by streamlining government regulations, ensuring the public safety of workers, and promoting the micro-funding of promising start-ups,” Masters said.
Congdon-Hohman said that “investing in training facilities and the promotion of trades will be critical to offering a skilled labor market that meets the demands of advanced manufacturing and production. To increase the number of skilled tradespeople, policymakers can take a range of actions from promotional campaigns, to subsidizing educational opportunities and loosening barriers to licensure.”
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Rebecca Barnabi
