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The 20 Fastest Growing Occupations

© Deborah Lapoint

One important factor to consider in planning your career is the occupation's "outlook." Some occupations grow while others decline in number of employees. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics tracks the outlook of hundreds of career fields, and has identified the 20 occupations expected to grow the fastest to the year 2006.

The most rapidly growing occupations cluster in two areas: computer technology and health care services.

Computer engineers and systems analysts will be in demand to satisfy the increasing needs in scientific research and other fields. Computer technology is finding new and improved applications at a rapid rate.

The health services are expected to grow twice as fast as the economy as a whole. This need stems, in part, from the aging of the baby boomer generation, a huge segment of the population. And as insurance companies require shortened hospital stays, home health care providers will be in great demand to provide personal care to the elderly, the ill, and to post-surgical patients.

The 20 fastest growing occupations are listed below. Click on their links for detailed descriptions from the Occupational Outlook Handbook about their job duties, training and qualifications, advancement opportunities, working conditions, wages, and much more.

1. Database administrators/computer support specialists

2. Computer engineers

3. Systems analysts

4. Personal and home care aides

5. Physical therapy assistants and aides

6. Home health aides

7. Medical assistants

8. Desktop publishing specialists

9. Physical therapists

10. Occupational therapy assistants and aides

11. Paralegals

12. Occupational therapists

13. Special education teachers

14. Social and human services assistants

15. Data processing equipment repairers

16. Medical records/health information technicians

17. Speech-language pathologists and audiologists

18. Dental hygienists

19. Amusement and recreation attendants

20. Physician assistants

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