Where are all the jobs in America?

If you are looking for a job in the U.S., you have the best chances in these five states: California, Texas, New York, Washington and New Jersey.  Most of them require advanced degrees.

According to recent labor department statistics, these are the top job sites for foreign labor certifications filed in 2019.  The Permanent Labor Certification Program allows U.S. employers to petition for foreign workers to fill permanent job openings in the U.S.  This is also the first step for foreigners to apply for a U.S. green card based on an offer of employment.

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These labor department statistics can tell us a lot about the employment landscape in America.  According to these statistics, not surprisingly, most jobs are in the coastal states and Texas.  Most labor applications were filed for jobs in California (24.9%), followed by Texas (12.5%), New York (8.9%), Washington (6.5%) and New Jersey (6.2%).

The top five occupations being petitioned for are (1) Computer and Mathematical (58.9%); (2) Architecture and Engineering (8.5%); (3) Business and Financial Operations (6.6%); (4) Management (6.1%); and (5) Education, Training and Library (2.7%).  

In terms of the type of industries, most jobs are in professional, scientific, and technical services, representing 42.1% of all applications.  Again, this is not surprising as America is known to be short of skilled technical workers such as software developers and engineers.  What is surprising is that manufacturing jobs take the second place with 15.2% of all applications.  Despite all the outsourcing and automation going on, manufacturing in America is still alive. The third place belongs to the information industry with 8.9% of all applications, followed by finance and insurance in the fourth place (6.9%) and retail trade in the fifth place (6.5%).

In terms of education, individuals with advanced degrees have a huge advantage in securing a job in today's marketplace.  47.8% of the positions being petitioned for require advance degrees such as Master's or Doctorate degree.  37.1% of the jobs require a Bachelor's degree and 11.7% require less than a Bachelor's degree.  

A majority of foreign workers came from India, which represents 53.3% of all foreign labor applications. Chinese nationals take up 11.1% of the numbers, followed by Canada (3.5%), Mexico (3.5%) and South Korea (3.4%).