Category Archives: Employment

Going Up: Infrastructure Jobs

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According the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Beyond the Numbers publication, infrastructure-related occupations pay well, over $37, 690 do not require post-graduate degrees or a degree at all in some cases, and can be expected to grow in the next 5 to 6 years. So, if you are looking for a job that might give you a good return on your education dollar, a career in building America’s infrastructure looks like a good deal now and in the future.

Bachelor’s Degree

Some infrastructure occupations require a bachelor’s degree, including planning and designing jobs, civil engineering and environmental engineering jobs, surveyor jobs, architecture jobs, health and safety engineering jobs, and construction management jobs.

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Associate’s Degree

Other infrastructure-related occupations that require post-secondary education, but less than a bachelor’s degree include drafters, civil engineering and environmental engineering technicians. These workers typically enter the profession with an associate’s degree. Wind turbine service technicians and commercial drivers also usually require some nondegree education.

Apprenticeship or On-The-Job Training

Most infrastructure related occupations that prepare the worksite or build the structure typically require workers to have a high school diploma or equivalent. These jobs include construction trade workers, such as sheet metal workers, carpenters, and brickmasons and blockmasons. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, several of these occupations require an apprenticeship. An apprenticeship consists of a combination of on-the-job training and technical instruction, which lasts 3 to 5 years.

High Pay

The 10 highest paid jobs involved in infrastructure include:

Boilermakers

Cost estimators

First-Line Supervisors of Construction Trades and Extraction Workers

Landscape Architects

Electrical power-line installers and repairers

Architects

Civil Engineers

Environmental Engineers

Health and Safety Engineers

Construction Managers

High School Degree or Equivalent

Three out of these 10 highest paid jobs in infrastructure require a high school education or equivalent but need additional on-the-job training to be competent.

Electrical power-line installers and repairers, on-the-job training longer than 1 year

First-Line Supervisors of Construction Trades and Extraction Workers, 5 years or more of construction experience

Boilermakers serve an apprenticeship.

Upward to 2026

Between 2016 and 2026, these infrastructure-related occupations are expected to grow at least as fast as average. The nation’s demand for infrastructure will help to drive the demand for these occupations.

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If you are considering investing in real estate or in remodeling real estate, call me for assistance.

I have funds to loan.

Patrick@InvestorsLendingSource.com

512-213-2271

Austin, Texas

 

Reference:

Tate, Patricia, 2018., The employment outlook for occupations tasked with building America’s infrastructure. Beyond the Numbers, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, vol 7, No. 17.

Photo Credit: Reinhard Dietrich [Public domain]

Censusdata at English Wikipedia [CC BY 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0)%5D

Jobs = Confidence

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U.S. Stocks Rallied again yesterday as corporate earnings and a good jobs report strengthened our confidence in investing. According to Investopedia, “The Market Sum,” by Caleb Silver, “We are six weeks deep into a stock market rally, the likes of which we haven’t seen since 1987.”

U.S. employers added an average of 223,000 jobs per month in 2018, much higher than the 170,000 per month predicted. 248,000 of those jobs were in the manufacturing sector, putting a dent in the 1.2 million manufacturing jobs wiped out in the last recession (Investopedia.com).

U.S. Occupations

If you want to know what type of jobs are in the U.S. labor market, you need to look at both the occupation (worker) and the industry (employer). You can use occupational employment statistics (OES) (published by the US Department of Labor at https://www.bls.gov/oes/) to compare occupations. You can see employment levels and wages for occupations where you live or in the type of business where you work.

According to the OES for the nation, retail sales person is the largest occupation. Next is food preparation and serving persons; then cashiers, office clerks, registered nurses, customer service representatives, laborers and freight movers, waitresses and waiters, secretaries, and general operations managers. These are the top ten occupations in the country. Manufacturing is not there — yet.

Loan Officer in Texas

You can look up “Loan Officer” though, and there are 307,240 loan officers making a mean hourly wage of $37.00 an hour, and interestingly enough, Texas has the second highest number of working loan officers (20, 810), second to California (39,520), with a mean annual income of $86,460.

Strangely, the top paying metropolitan area in the country for this occupation is Laredo, Texas, with a mean annual salary of $131,200. They don’t say how many loan officers there are in Laredo making this salary though. Lubbock, Texas is in seventh place on the top ten, with 260 loan officers, making a mean annual salary of $117,500 each. Number eight is Victoria, Texas, with 70 loan officers making a mean annual salary of $114,230 each.

So What? I think this means that Texas has a lot of money to lend.

Real Estate Brokers

What do the statistics say about “Real Estate Brokers?” First, there are 36,410 real estate brokers working in real estate in the U.S., with others working in management, building construction, credit, and business and professional organizations. Texas is fifth, with 2,290 workers employed in this occupation, compared to California with 5,570. In Texas, Dallas-Plano-Irving is the Texas metropolitan area on the list of areas with the highest employment level in real estate brokering, 830 brokers with a mean annual salary of $80,410.

Cowboys

Sad as it may sound, the song is right. “Mothers, don’t let your sons grow up to be cowboys.” I could find hunters and trappers on the list of occupations, but no cowboys. That cannot be right. This is Texas!

An occupation gives us purpose and confidence. Work is good.

I am a real estate broker. I work with people, land, homes, and money. I, myself, only see the back end of a cow when I visit Kansas. What could get better than that.

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If you or your partner have a real estate purchase you would like to make or money you would like to invest in a real estate project, don’t forget, I’m on the net, in the book, and this is what I love to do.

Pat St. Cin

Patrick@InvestorsLendingSource.com

512-213-2271

Austin, Texas

 

References:

The Market Sum, by Caleb Silver at Investopedia.com

US Department of Labor at https://www.bls.gov/oes/

Cowboy hats. Nika Vee, Austin [CC BY 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)%5D, via Wikimedia Commons

 

 

 

Houston Adds 114,400 Jobs

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Good New for Houston Jobs Up 3.7%

 According to the U. S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land was one of the nation’s largest metropolitan statistical areas showing an increase in the rate of job growth between November 2017 and November 2018.

In November, 54 metropolitan areas had over-the-year increases in nonfarm payroll employment and 334 were essentially unchanged.

The largest over-the-year employment increases occurred in Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX (+114,400), New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA (+113,000), and Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX (+94,700).

Good News for Reno, Midland, and Colorado Springs

Nationally, the largest over-the-year percentage gains in employment occurred in

Reno, NV (+5.9 percent),

Midland, TX (+5.7 percent), and

Colorado Springs, CO (+5.0 percent).

Good News for Texas

In Texas, the 10 cities with the largest over the year percentage gain in employment occurred in

Austin, up 35.2 or 3.3%

Beaumont-Port Arthur up 35.2, or 3.3%

Dallas-Fort Worth, Arlington up 94.7 or 2.6%

Houston, The Woodlands, Sugar Land up 114.4 or 3.7%

Killeen-Temple up 3.3 or 2.3%

Lubbock up 3.9 or 2.6%

Midland up 5.6 or 5.7%  ——Highlight Midland: According to Trulia, the average listing for a home in Midland is 342,280. There are 567 home for sale and the median rent is $2.500 per month. 

San Antonio, New Braunfels up 14.3 or 1.4%

Sherman-Denison up 1.8 or 3.8%

Tyler up 4.3, or 4.1%

Texas overall up 360.0, or 2.9%

 

Patrick@InvestorsLendingSource.com

512-213-2271

Austin, Texas

 

References

https://www.bls.gov/

https://www.trulia.com/real_estate/Midland-Texas/

Happy New Year Workers!

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Happy New Year to all you workers. We value your labor and wish you well in 2019.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics News Release on January 4, 2019.

Earnings

In December, average hourly earnings for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls rose 11 cents to $27.48. Over the year, average hourly earnings have increased by 84 cents, or 3.2 percent.

Employment

Total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 312,000 in December 2018. Job gains occurred in health care, food services and drinking places, construction, manufacturing, and retail trade.

Health Care

Employment in health care rose by 50,000 in December. 346,000 jobs were added in 2018, more than the gain of 284,000 jobs in 2017.

  • Ambulatory health care services (+38,000)
  • Hospitals (+7,000).

Food and Drink

Employment in food services and drinking places increased by 41,000 in December 2018 Over the year, the industry added 235,000 jobs, similar to the increase in 2017 (+261,000).

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Construction

Construction employment rose by 38,000 in December 2018. 280,000 jobs were added in 2018, compared with 250,000 in 2017.

  • Heavy and civil engineering construction (+16,000)
  • Nonresidential specialty trade construction (+16,000).

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Manufacturing

Manufacturing added 32,000 jobs in December. Most of the gain occurred in the durable goods component (+19,000), with job growth in fabricated metal products (+7,000) and in computer and electronic products (+4,000). Manufacturing employment increased by 284,000 over the year, with about three-fourths of the gain in durable goods industries. Manufacturing had added 207,000 jobs in 2017.

Retail

Employment in retail trade rose by 24,000. Retail trade employment increased by 92,000 in 2018, after little net change in 2017 (-29,000).

  • General merchandise stores (+15,000)
  • Automobile dealers (+6,000).
  • Losses in sporting goods, hobby, book, and music stores (-9,000).

Professional and Business

Employment in professional and business services continued to trend up in December 2018:(+43,000). The industry added 583,000 jobs in 2018, outpacing the 458,000 jobs added

in 2017.

The Unchanged

Employment in other major industries, including mining, wholesale trade, transportation and warehousing, information, financial activities, and government, showed little change over the month of December 2018.

Patrick@InvestorsLendingSource.com

512-213-2271

Austin, Texas

 

References

US Bureau of Labor Statistics website

Photo credit: breadandbeer.lt [CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)%5D, via Wikimedia Commons

2019: The Year of the Learner

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I just read an interesting blog called the “Future of Learning” off the Medium blog site by Niklas Göke.

The point of his essay is that learning itself is a skill and the person who can learn how to learn will be “exactly the person an unpredictable world needs.”

He and Emilie Wapnick both suggest that if you can learn to learn across multiple domains, you can then specialize faster when you choose to do so or remain a generalist, standing out against the world of specialists.  So what do they advise?

Don’t change if you are a generalist, don’t narrow your focus to get ahead in your career.

Challenge yourself to grasp concepts of broad variety, like microbiology, auto repair, knitting, and aerospace.

Learn the difference between what is important and what is unimportant and combine many bits of information into a broad picture of the world. (Yuval Noah Harari)

What will the skill of learning get you? Well, if the knowledge you learn in a university education only lasts 5 years and companies rise and fall all around us very quickly, learning to learn will help you become what Emilie Wapnick calls a “Multipotentialite.” These are people who can synthesize ideas, innovate, rapidly learn, stay flexible, stand out from the specialists, and be adaptable.

In an unpredictable world with many complex problems and to much information, being a person who can be receptive to multiple perspectives and hold them in your head all at once, keep an open mind, one that allows new information in and allows the picture of reality to evolve and become coherent will be very valuable in the future.

So in 2019, Let’s all vow to be learners. Keep an open mind, build a real picture in your mind, and invest in it.

books on bookshelves

Photo by Mikes Photos on Pexels.com

Patrick@InvestorsLendingSource.com

512-213-2271

Austin, Texas

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Job: Still A Good Investment

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The U. S. Bureau of Labor Statistics offers projections that can help you choose where to focus your education and experience if you are looking for a job during the decade 2016 to 2026. Although fast growing, the two top growing careers on the list (Solar photovoltaic installers &

Wind turbine service technicians) are pretty specialized, so there are not a lot of people in these jobs. However, according to the Bureau of Labor, the number of jobs in the areas of solar and wind power will double by 2016 demonstrating the increased interest in alternative energy.

Five of the top ten fastest growing careers are in health care. This make sense because our population in the US is growing older. As the baby boomer generation (those born between 1946 and 1964) grows older, they will not only leave the work force, but require more health-related services. Some of the careers that projected to grow by 2016 include

Home health aides

Personal care aides

Physicians assistants

Nurse practitioners

Physical Therapist assistants

The other two careers that are fast growing are related to the needs of the science, technology, engineering, and math community are include

Statisticians

Software developers, applications

Mathematicians.

What does all this data mean to you? Well if you are looking for a job, Houston is a good place to look and if you are looking for a particular type of job your outlook for finding a job is good if you are looking in the top ten fastest growing occupations.

I read once in a book on money, that the best investment is “a good job.”

Patrick@InvestorsLendingSource.com

512-213-2271

Austin, Texas

medic treating patient

Photo by rawpixel.com on Pexels.com

New metropolitan area employment data for November 2018 are scheduled to be released on Friday, December 21, 2018 at 10:00 am (ET)

U.S. Department of Labor, 2018

Houston Adds 117,800 Jobs

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Good News for Houston  –—  Jobs Up 3.9%

According to the U. S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land was one of the nation’s 12 largest metropolitan statistical areas showing an increase in the rate of job growth between October 2017 and October 2018.jobs report graphic

All 12 of the areas considered “largest metropolitan areas” had job growth during the last year with seven of the areas exceeding the national increase of 1.7%.

Good News for Dallas too  –—  Jobs Up 3.0%

Houston posted the largest gain of 3.9%, and along with Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale (+3.7%), and Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington (+3.0%) had the fastest rates of job growth.

Other posting slower rates of job growth included Chicago-Naperville-Elgin (+0.9%), New York-Newark-Jersey City (+1.1%), and Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim (+1.2%) had the slowest rates of job growth.

Houston added 117,800 jobs, followed by Dallas at 109,000. In the Houston area, professional and business services added the largest number of jobs, 30,600, between October 2017 and October 2018. Construction added 25,600 jobs over the last year, with 15,900 of those in the construction of buildings. Area employment in the construction sector climbed 11.6% compared to the 4.4% gain in the rest of the nation.

Manufacturing added 16,100 jobs in Houston over the last year, and trade, transportation, and utilities added 16,000 jobs during the same period.

New metropolitan area employment data for November 2018 are scheduled to be released on Friday, December 21, 2018 at 10:00 am (ET). Stay tuned for more good news from Texas.  U.S. Department of Labor, 2018

Patrick@InvestorsLendingSource.com

512-213-2271

Austin, Texas