Depending on how you want to spin the data, the employment outlook in the U.P. is either fabulous or dismal. Employment projections from 1994 to 2005 for the U.P. show that the rate of growth for a number of professional, health and technical fields is expected to be strong.
For example, the number of systems analysts and computer engineers is projected to more than double during this time. However, these two occupations combined employed fewer than 250 people in the U.P. in 1994, possibly distorting the net impact of such dramatic rate increases in professions that are just starting to gain a foothold.
Only four occupations in the U.P. are projected to have more than 1,000 net new openings: wait staff, retail sales, cashiers and home health aides. Of 29 occupations expected to add 200 or more jobs during this period, only about 40 percent are in a skilled trade or field that required specific post-secondary training.
