The Hottest Industries (And Most Beautiful People)

(Just for the record, our nonprofit Hill Library did not make this year’s Fortune 500 list. And while I’m only about halfway through the 100 Most Beautiful People list published in the May 12 issue of People magazine, I haven’t seen us represented on that one, either.)

Apart from ranking the 500 largest U.S. corporations, the Fortune list can offer some insights about another question we’ve been hearing more of lately: how does one go about determining the fastest growing industries?

Maybe more people are looking for career changes, or wanting to start new businesses in high-demand industries, or targeting sales efforts at growth industries. Whatever the reason, there are several resources to investigate to get to the bottom of this topic.

Business publications are certainly a good place to start, and Fortune magazine takes its own shot at fast growing industries here. Entrepreneur is another magazine that compiles a Hot List of burgeoning industries and segments. And lists of hot growth companies (like this one from Business Week) can also be useful in spotting macro-level industry trends.

In addition to trade magazines, government agencies can also provide some understanding. Consider the resources from the Bureau of Labor Statistics: the BLS charts the fastest growing (and most rapidly declining) industries in terms of employment growth, with projections through 2016; occupations with the largest job growth for the next eight years; and employment by major industry sector. The Bureau’s Occupational Outlook Handbook may offer hints as well: just click on the link for “Tomorrow’s Jobs” on the right-hand side. 
 
Other government sources to check include the Bureau of Economic Analysis, which tracks GDP by industry, and as the name of the agency suggests, is chock full of wonky details about Value Added by Industry, Gross Output by Industry, and so on. And the Labor Department’s Employment and Training Administration, which lists both today’s high-growth industries, and industries targeted by the High Growth Job Training Initiative.

The commercial site America’s Career InfoNet runs with some of the data published by the BLS, and publishes its own fastest growing industries list here.

And it’s always worth checking with a Department of Economic Development in your state to see if there are similar resources more specific to your own geography.

(Thanks, Sarah!)