The U.S. Labor Department released its report on 10-year projections for job and industry growth. Here’s what’s in the report.

First, as just about everyone knows, the manufacturing sector will continue to drop, even after a loss of about two million jobs in the sector over the last year, and they are unlikely to return.

Total employment is expected to rise in the next 10 years by 15.3 million, or 10.1%. That’s better than the 7.4% increase in the most recent 10-year period, but the numbers can be deceiving, since the recession dragged down the numbers so badly in the most recent 10-year period. Plus, we’re starting a low point in employment, so there’s a lot of room for growth.

Construction. The number of jobs will rise by 1.3 million, but even with the increase, there will be a percentage decrease when compared with the job market as a whole.

The service sector. Expect 96% of job growth to come out of this sector in the next 10 years — in particular in professional and business services, and health care and social assistance. Jobs in health care, which grew even during the recession, will skyrocket.

Which positions will see the most growth? The Labor Department projects increases of:

• 72% for biomedical engineers
• 53% for systems and data analysts
• 50% for home health aides
• 41% for financial examiners

At the beginning of 2008, the unemployment rate for the two groups was almost the same. However, a breakdown of U.S. Labor Department statistics indicates that from December 2007 to December 2008, the unemployment rate for men went from 4.4% to 7.2%. For women. though, the rate rose from 4.3% to only 5.9%.

Why the difference? Some possible explanations:

• Women are more likely to work part time than men, and part-time workers — who often don’t get benefits — tend to hang onto their jobs in a economy where employers are cutting full-time jobs and benefits.
• According to most estimates, about 75% of the workers in the health care and education  are women. Those two sectors have been the least hard-hit by the downturn.
• The same estimates show that men make up 93% of the workers in construction and 72% in manufacturing. Those two sectors have taken a pounding in the last year. For instance, construction jobs dropped by 8.5% in 2008.

Take a look at the list of employees slated to be let go — even if it’s only one or two —  and ask yourself, “Are any of these people in a gray area when it comes to being paid overtime?”

Every employer has them: workers who have been classified as salaried and exempt from overtime pay, but whose situation is iffy.

How about that fill-in, part-time manager we’ve had on salary? Or the administrative assistant whom we’ve been calling a “manager.” Or the IT worker whose knowledge and skill level put him close to the “professional” status – and exempt from overtime?

 Best bet: If you’ve been treating them as exempt, and there’s the hint of a question about whether the classification is correct, you may want to sit down with your financial officer and consider whether the classifications were correct and in line with the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).

Expensive mistake

Reason: If one of those people suspects cheating – and a shortchanged paycheck – expect a lawsuit or a complaint to the Labor Department. And the penalties are stiff for violators. An employee winning such a claim would be entitled to up to three years of unpaid overtime, which would be doubled, plus attorney’s fees.

However, the Labor Department generally is a lot more lenient with employers who go back and make things right before there’s a complaint. So it may be worthwhile before the layoff to see if mistakes have been made.
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