The Coming Job Boom

We know what you're thinking: "A job boom? What happened to the 'jobless recovery' that's supposed to accompany the economic rebound?" Sure, the nation's unemployment rate hovers around 10 percent, and the outlook is particularly bleak in states like Michigan and California. But this series isn't about predicting what jobs may or may not return over the coming months. These articles, and the ones that we'll publish in the coming days, are about the big opportunities that will emerge over the next decade because of major trends transforming the American workforce.

Some of these trends — such as Boomers in need of more healthcare services — are well underway. Others — such as the birth of small businesses with global reach and all the resources of big companies — are just becoming possible thanks to powerful technological advances like cloud computing. To identify the best careers in the coming decade, we culled data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, interviewed some of the country's brightest economists, and found companies that are already struggling to lure talent. To find out more, just click on the links below. And then check out the ten hottest cities for the next decade.

The Coming Job Boom:

• The Smart Grid: Where Green Tech Is Serious About Hiring
• Healthcare: The Upside of an Aging Population — Plenty of Great Jobs
• R&D: Skilled, Well-Educated Workers Wanted (and Not Just the Science Geeks)
• Financial Planning: Baby Boomers Need Money Advice. And They Don't Want It from Wall Street
• Consulting: Those Companies That Laid You Off? They Want You Back, Sort Of.
  
• Risk Managers: Now Hiring Finance Geeks to Protect the Coffers
• Data Analysts: The New Masters of the Universe