The job outlook for 2008 looked pretty good when we were still in 2007. Now, however, recession is raising its ugly head amidst news that the U.S. labor market has weakened. Are there any jobs that are recession-proof? 

Of course, jobs in low-wage, labor-intensive industries will continue to grow. Such jobs can be found in food service, retail and the bottom rung of the health care industry.  

For the professional, however, some other industries continue to show growth: 

Health care will continue to generate new jobs. According to Health Guide USA,  “seven of the twenty fastest growing occupations are health care related. Job opportunities should be good in all employment settings.” And indeed, health care jobs increased in January 2008. 

Professional and business services jobs did not grow in January (and business support services actually lost jobs) but the outlook for these jobs continues to be strong. There is a wide variety of these jobs, including accounting, computer service, company management, consulting, engineering, legal services, scientific research, and so forth. 

Not so Rosy 

Financial services, especially in the credit and mortgage fields, had a bit of a downturn in January, not unexpectedly. Those jobs fell by 111,000 since October 2006. Construction and manufacturing jobs also decreased in January.  

Should you worry about a recession and job loss?  The New York Times just reported that government figures show the economy lost 63,000 jobs in February.