CareerCast.com Rates Best Jobs in the Nation's Capital Region

Software Engineer, Actuary and HR Manager Rank in D.C. Area’s Top Three

Carlsbad, CA (May 31, 2012) -- While jobseekers in many U.S. cities battle an unemployment rate of 8% or more, those in the nation’s capital region are faring well, according to CareerCast.com’s new report on the best jobs in the D.C. area.

Job seekers with a degree or experience in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) have little or no trouble finding jobs in the Washington, D.C. market. In fact, with double the number of STEM jobs compared to the national average, the Washington, D.C., region is a true hub for knowledge workers.

"The D.C. region is a goldmine of opportunities for those with mathematical abilities," says Tony Lee, publisher of CareerCast.com. “The federal government plans to spend up to $3.2 billion over the next five years to upgrade its IT infrastructure and migrate to cloud computing and IT opportunities in cyber security and private sector software development are also expected to be strong.”

In fact, Software Engineering is already at the forefront of this explosive growth. As government agencies and related businesses update their infrastructures and develop new technologies, Software Engineers will reap the benefits. With a growth rate of 25%, Software Engineer is rated the No. 1 job in the region, according to the Jobs Rated rankings. Actuaries (28% growth), Mathematicians (16% growth) and Statisticians (15% growth) also rank among the top-rated jobs in the nation's capital region.

Another best job in the region is Human Resources Manager. Through the year 2020, job growth for HR Managers is expected to be 21%, plus the profession has great pay and ideal working conditions.

Here is the full list of CareerCast.com’s Top Ten Best Jobs of 2012 in the D.C. Area:

Best Jobs

1. Software Engineer	$88,142 average pay

2. Actuary	$88,202 average pay

3. Human Resources Manager	$99,102 average pay

4. Occupational Therapist	$72,110 average pay

5. Online Advertising Manager	$87,255 average pay

6. Computer Systems Analyst	$78,148 average pay

7. Mathematician	$99,191 average pay

8. Physical Therapist	$76,100 average pay

9. Web Developer	$76,179 average pay

10. Statistician	$73,205 average pay

About CareerCast.com

CareerCast.com, created by Adicio, is a job search portal that offers extensive local, niche and national job listings from across North America; job-hunting, career-management and HR-focused editorial content; and videos and blogs; and provides recruiters with the ability to post jobs directly to more than 800 niche career sites. CareerCast.com also compiles the Jobs Rated Report (www.jobsrated.com), where 200 jobs across North America are ranked based on detailed analysis of specific careers factors.