Where The Jobs Aren't

According to employment forecasts from the BLS here are the 30 occupations that are expected to experience the largest job growth between 2010 and 2020. Only 5 of them require a college degree or higher while half require a high school degree. Yet we are encouraging more and more of our young people to borrow huge sums to get higher educational credentials while allowing more and more to fail to obtain a high school diploma. Only government could take its own market research and construct policies exactly opposite to what that research suggests.

Rank	Occupation	Entry-Level Education	Jobs in 2010 (1,000s)	Jobs in 2020 (1,000s)	Increase (1,000s)
1	Registered Nurses	BA	2,737.4	3,449.3	711.9
2	Retail Salespersons	Less than HS	4,261.6	4,968.4	706.8
3	Home Health Aides	Less than HS	1,017.7	1,723.9	706.3
4	Personal Care Aides	Less than HS	861.0	1,468.0	607.0
5	Office Clerks, General	High School	2,950.7	3,440.2	489.5
6	Combined Food Preparation and Serving Workers, Including Fast Food	Less than HS	2,682.1	3,080.1	398.0
7	Customer Service Representatives	High School	2,187.3	2,525.6	338.4
8	Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers	High School	1,604.8	1,934.9	330.1
9	Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand	Less than HS	2,068.2	2,387.3	319.1
10	Postsecondary Teachers	Doctoral	1,756.0	2,061.7	305.7
11	Nursing Aides, Orderlies, and Attendants	High School	1,505.3	1,807.2	302.0
12	Childcare Workers	High School	1,282.3	1,544.3	262.0
13	Bookkeeping, Accounting, and Auditing Clerks	High School	1,898.3	2,157.4	259.0
14	Cashiers	Less than HS	3,362.6	3,612.8	250.2
15	Elementary School Teachers, Except Special Education	BA	1,476.5	1,725.3	248.8
16	Receptionists and Information Clerks	High School	1,048.5	1,297.0	248.5
17	Janitors and Cleaners, Except Maids and Housekeeping Cleaners	Less than HS	2,310.4	2,556.8	246.4
18	Landscaping and Groundskeeping Workers	Less than HS	1,151.5	1,392.3	240.8
19	Sales Representatives, Wholesale and Manufacturing	High School	1,430.0	1,653.4	223.4
20	Construction Laborers	Less than HS	998.8	1,211.2	212.4
21	Medical Secretaries	High School	508.7	718.9	210.2
22	Supervisors of Office and Administrative Support Workers	High School	1,424.4	1,627.8	203.4
23	Carpenters	High School	1,001.7	1,197.6	196.0
24	Waiters and Waitresses	Less than HS	2,260.3	2,456.2	195.9
25	Security Guards	High School	1,035.7	1,230.7	195.0
26	Teacher Assistants	High School	1,288.3	1,479.3	191.1
27	Accountants and Auditors	BA	1,216.9	1,407.6	190.7
28	Licensed Practical and Licensed Vocational Nurses	High School	752.3	920.8	168.5
29	Physicians and Surgeons	Doctoral	691.0	859.3	168.3
30	Medical Assistants	High School	527.6	690.4	162.9

It's Profit, Not Jobs

I'm growing increasingly dismayed with Mitt Romney over one issue that might seem merely semantic, but is, in reality, incredibly important. Mr. Romney roams the country telling us how at Bain capital he "created jobs". The President then tries to convince us that he "lost jobs".  All of this works to reinforce the growing economic ignorance of the public. One does not investment in a business to create jobs. One invests to increase its profit. The President, may not understand this, of course. He's never done anything that generated a profit and believes that the most noteworthy consequence of the ATM is that it suppresses the number of bank tellers hired. Undoubtedly, Mr. Obama also bemoans the fact that there is no longer an AT&T monopoly to employ hundreds of thousands of long-distance operators.

Now, in aggregate, more profit results in more jobs, but that's rather like observing that having more children brings about greater production of dolls and bicycles. You can't create jobs by demonizing profit any more than you can increase production of toys by scolding fertility. It's time Mr. Romney started to educate the public. Investors put money into firms like Bain because Bain has been highly successful (reportedly at the 80% level) in increasing the profitability of its portfolio companies. Whether or not those particular companies employ more people is irrelevant (though it appears that they have). Their enhanced profitability and efficiency is a net benefit to the economy as a whole. If not, then, by all means, lets abolish ATMs, bring back telephone operators and issue paper & pencil to those who utilize computers. What this country needs, clearly, is more community organizers and fewer profit-driven businessmen.