Six local job sectors need workers

Regional job prospects for 2011 look brightest in manufacturing, health care, waste recycling and transportation, according to regional economist Doug Tweedy, who tracks employment data for Washington’s Employment Security Department.

As a starting point for job-hunters, Tweedy suggests visits to WorkForceExplorer.com and then selecting the menu link for Career Center. That leads to a section titled Demand/Decline list, with summaries of jobs considered in demand, grouped by county.

The online links can bring up the specific current jobs listed at employment assistance agency WorkSource. For instance, five positions for certified accountants with Spokane firms were listed.

Tracking job listings, Tweedy said Spokane has six sectors, out of 18, that are in demand.

They are health care, advanced manufacturing, waste-management and energy, professional-scientific-technical services, accounting-finance-insurance, and transportation and logistics.

“You don’t have to be an accountant to get a job with an accounting company,” Tweedy noted. Financial firms are hiring administrative, support and technical workers, and that explains its place on the hot-sector list.

The hottest of the six is health care, Tweedy said.

Advanced manufacturing is a subgroup of the broad manufacturing sector. While manufacturing in general is rebounding from the hits taken in the past three years, some subgroups are faring better than others, he said.

Advanced manufacturing covers jobs for companies using chemicals, composites and metal fabrication.

The North Idaho job sectors with the largest number of jobs are health care, administrative and support services, manufacturing, transportation, warehousing and retail.