State Occupatioanl Outlooks Handbook 1 (State Occupational Outlook Handbook) [Hardcover]

Gale Group (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

The Bureau of Labor Statistics' Occupational Outlook Handbook is a wonderful source, but its sections on job outlook, earnings, and employment fail to make state or regional distinctions. Gale's State Occupational Outlook Handbook is a valuable supplement which covers just those areas. A quick comparison of several occupations for several states shows just how wide the differences may be.

The entry for each state begins with "what's hot," a list of the top 20 occupations in terms of job openings or percent growth, generally for the period 1994^-2005. This is followed by a list of an average of 600 occupations with outlook, wage, and employment figures. Because the sources of these statistics vary from state to state, numbers are often not comparable across states. Fortunately, the sources and means of determining the statistics are given at the beginning of each state outlook. Alabama, for instance, defines outlook as "projected employment from 1994 to 2005 given in terms of average annual growth and average annual openings for the period"; wages listed are "average hourly wage for 1995, followed by minimum and maximum average hourly wage"; employment is number of people in that occupation in 1994. To cite one occupation, financial managers in Alabama have a good outlook with 2.93% average annual growth and 510 average annual openings, wages averaging $26.52 with a low of $7.70 and a high of $82.50, and a total of 8,970 employed in 1994. Figures for other states may reflect a different range of years, may neglect high and low wages, or may even be missing. Outlook for most Nebraska occupations and wages for most Oklahoma occupations, for instance, are "not available."

Within each state, occupations are clustered under eight main headings, including "Executive, Administrative, and Managerial Occupations"; "Professional, Paraprofessional, and Technical Occupations"; and "Marketing and Sales Occupations." Because this clustering may make a particular occupation difficult to find, an extensive index, arranged by state, lists all occupations alphabetically. A list of sources for each state and the District of Columbia includes "the state agencies responsible for compiling and publishing labor market information and the State Occupational Information Coordinating Committees," with directors, addresses, and phone numbers.

Highly recommended for high-school, public, and academic libraries as a supplement to the Occupational Outlook Handbook and other national career guides.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 759 pages
• Publisher: Gale Group (December 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0787617059
• ISBN-13: 978-0787617059
• Product Dimensions: 11.4 x 8.7 x 1.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #10,273,985 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)