Here's What Kind of Jobs America Is Adding

If you’re job seeking, the odds may be in your favor: U.S. employers added a projected 151,000 non-farm jobs from July to August, according to the jobs report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics released Friday. And certain industries are seeing more of a boom than others.

“It’s more important than ever for job seekers to invest in their personal brands if they want to stand out in this competitive job market,” said Amanda Augustine, a career advice expert at TopResume, a resume critiquing and job search firm. “However, for those seeking employment in the food services, health care and financial services industries, there is a bit of good news: jobs in all three of these sectors continue to see an upward trend.”

Where the Jobs Are

As Augustine mentioned, food services, health care and financial services industries are seeing increases in jobs, with the Bureau of Labor Statistics reporting an increase of available jobs in each of these areas — the food services and drinking places industry added 34,000 jobs; health care added 14,400 jobs, many of which (12,900) were in ambulatory health care services; and the finance and insurance industry had an increase of 14,400 jobs.

Beyond that, some top categories of hiring included individual and family social services adding 16,600 jobs and retail, which gained 15,100 jobs. Local government hires accounted for most of the government jobs with 24,000 hires (11,700 of them were in education.)

Preparing for a New Job

If you’re in the market for a new job, whether in one of the industries that saw an increase in positions recently or not, there is a lot to do to prepare. You may want to brush up on your interview skills and update your resume, but something you may not have thought about is checking your credit. Many employers look at a version of your credit report as part of the application process, so it’s a good idea to see where your credit stands ahead of time. You can pull your credit reports for free each year at AnnualCreditReport.com and see a free credit report summary, updated every 14 days, on Credit.com.

Image: Jodi Jacobson