The Orange County Register - Which Industries Are Doing Best, Worst?

July 1, 2010

 

Which industries are doing best, worst?

July 1st, 2010, 4:25 am · posted by Jan Norman, small-business columnist

The economic recovery is spotty: Some industries have had big growth in sales in the last 12 months while others continue to struggle, according to SageWorks Inc., a company that analyzes the finances of privately owned companies.

If you’re looking for a career move or thinking of starting a business, here are the industries you should consider (click on chart for a larger view):

Six of the 10 industries are health related and two are job-training related. That latter group is easy to understand with 15 million Americans unemployed and relatively few jobs are being created. Many of the jobs lost are probably gone forever.

Here are industries to avoid:

The oil industry was struggling even before the BP Petroleum Gulf disaster. And car dealers were probably saved from worse sales declines by the federal “cash for clunkers” program. Is anyone else surprised that more construction-related industries aren’t on the list?

Notice that even the highest growth industry – making medicine – doesn’t offset even the 10th worst industry (wood product manufacturing).

Does this information cheer you up or make you want to pull the covers over your head?