by Doreen Martel

Created on: January 16, 2009   Last Updated: February 24, 2012

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics as of December 31, 2008, we were faced with an unemployment rate of 7.2%. One of the frightening statistics shown in this report was that in a four month period, 1.9 million people lost their jobs.

There are some careers that have always remained recession proof and there is no current data that shows that these are going to change any time soon. Let's take a look at some of these careers and why they remain recession proof.

Health care

Nurses and others who work in heath care fields are fortunate to be in one of the fastest growing fields. As our population continues to grow older, the demand for skilled people continues to grow. Because as a nation we are not getting any younger, you can expect these careers to stay in large demand for many years to come. Other jobs in this field would include physicians, physician assistants, pharmacists and even physical therapists.

Teaching

Teachers will continue to be in demand at every level although there are some fields that are very high demand including bi-lingual education, math and science. Because more adults are electing to return to college to help their ability to further their careers, there will be more demand for college instructors.

Law enforcement

In spite of difficult economic times, we are always going to be faced with crime making police officers, security guards, security experts and detectives positions recession proof. The Bureau of Labor Statistics notes that people who work in this field are seldom faced with layoffs and when they lose their jobs, they are seldom out of work long because of the increasing demand for experts in this field.

Environmental sciences

Another fast growing field is for those who specialize in environmental sciences including ecologists, environmental chemists and others because it is believed by the Bureau of Labor Statistics that this field alone will grow more than 25% over the next ten years. As more and more green technology is demanded by the population, the demand for specialists in this field will grow even faster.

When all other companies are laying off employees, the federal government is constantly hiring new workers. Another interesting (and not so well known) fact is that the federal government lays off only one quarter the rate that private businesses lay off. This is of course a result that regardless of what the economy is doing, the government must be able to continue to function at the same levels. Cato Institute reports that one in every 5,000 workers who are not in the defense field are let go for poor performance. An interesting note here is the bulk of the hiring on the federal government level is the twenty-something age group.

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