The job market in the US has changed considerably since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. When the pandemic began in March and April 2020, the US unemployment rate exceeded 10%. Since then, it has fallen to 3.6%. Employers in many industries are scrambling for new workers today. The shortage of workers in some of these sectors is extraordinary. This has made job security high in various professions.
As the job market recovered throughout 2021, there were a handful of professions that helped bring down the unemployment rate. According to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, there were dozens of career fields that had unemployment rates well below 2% in 2021.
To determine the career with the best job security, 24/7 Wall St. reviewed data on the unemployment rate for more than 500 occupations detailed in the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Current Population Survey.
Most of the jobs we review for the best job security are in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) fields, particularly medical careers like pharmacists and nurse practitioners, as well as tech jobs like software developers and security analysts of you. These highly specialized fields tend to pay well, mostly above the median annual salary across all jobs of $56,310.
Nearly all of the jobs we look at to determine the best job security typically require at least some form of a high school education, from an associate’s degree to a doctorate. However, some of these positions generally do not require education beyond a high school diploma.
The career with the greatest job stability is that of directors of religious activities and education. Here are the details:
> Unemployment rate: 0.2%
> Manpower: 67,000
> Median Annual Salary: $45,110
> Projected employment change 2020-2030: +2.1%
> Typical entry-level education requirement: Bachelor’s degree
Methodology: To determine the career with the best job security, 24/7 Wall St. reviewed data on the unemployment rate for more than 500 occupations itemized from the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Current Population Survey. The listed occupations were classified by the percentage of the labor force that was unemployed as of 2021. Unemployed members of an occupational labor force must have last been employed in this occupation prior to unemployment. Only occupations with a workforce of 50,000 or more were considered. Broad occupation titles classified as “all others” were excluded from consideration.
Supplemental data on median annual salary is from the BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics and is for 2020. Data on projected employment change from 2020 to 2030 and the typical education requirement for entry-level positions within the profession come from the BLS Employment Projections program.
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