Business 2.0: The Next Job Boom; Everyone is out Looking; The Latest Data Says Everyone's Hiring.

NEW YORK -- In sector after sector, from health care to advertising to retail to accounting - the pent-up demand for workers that has been slowly building for the last four years is now boiling over. Currently there are approximately 2.6 million people leaving their jobs each month - the same level as in the pre 9/11 economy - while job openings have increased by almost half a million positions since last summer, according to The Bureau of Labor Statistics. In Business 2.0's May issue cover story, entitled "The Next Job Boom," the magazine reports how an unusual convergence of economic factors has made this moment the best time to look for a job since the most dizzying days of the dotcom boom, and waves of workers are delivering their take-this-job-and-shove-it speeches and bailing out for more rewarding, less spirit-crushing work.

Business 2.0 reports this new job boom has little to do with job growth and is instead the result of low unemployment combined with collapsing productivity. In March, the unemployment rate fell to 4.7 percent, and for college-educated workers the figure has dropped to 2.2 percent. In addition, worker productivity declined during the last quarter of 2005 and is expected to post its worst showing in almost a decade this year. The underlying theme is clear: bosses can't squeeze more work out of existing workers and there aren't many new workers, particularly skilled ones, out there.

Highlights of The Next "Job boom" statistical data (Source: The Bureau of Labor Statistics):

--Unemployment for knowledge workers is lower than it has been in years: 3.0% in 2003 vs. 2.2% in 2006.

--Employers have squeezed extra productivity out of workers, but those gains are coming to an end: more than 3.5% productivity growth in 2003; just 1.5 % projected in 2007.

--Increasingly, overworked employees are sensing a turn in the job market and are heading for the exits: approximately 2 million people quit their jobs in 2003 vs. more than 2.5 million in 2006.

--Job-hoppers are finding plenty of places to land as the number of job openings has been surging: less than 3 million job openings in 2003 vs. more than 4 million in 2006.

"As workers move, of course, bosses countermove, and the result is a volatile labor market that teems with opportunity for employees - and peril for companies trying to hang on to them," say Business 2.0 Senior Writer Paul Kaihla, and Editors-At-Large Erick Schonfeld and Paul Sloan. "The stories of people who've jumped and of employers trying to stay staffed up thus become instructive primers on how to navigate the new job terrain and can provide inspiration for anyone who's still stuck with a ball-and-chain job or a tyrannical boss - or just dreams of finding a better gig. But move fast: The current situation is the job market equivalent of an unusual astronomical event. The planets have rarely if ever been aligned quite like this, and the period of optimal conditions is likely to be fleeting."

Also in the Business 2.0 cover package, the magazine identifies "The 10 Hottest Occupations," ranking the jobs with the largest opportunity for growth over the next eight years, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. All ten jobs are from three specific fields - technical, medical and education - and includes the following careers: (1) network systems and data communications analyst, (2) physician's assistant, (3) computer software engineer, applications, (4) computer software engineer, systems software, (5) network and computer systems administrator, (6) database administrator (7) physical therapist, (8) medical scientist, (9) occupational therapist, and (10) college instructor.

Additionally, Business 2.0 lists "The 10 Hottest Markets" for job growth from now through 2015. The Sun Belt will lead job growth as mega cities like Dallas, Las Vegas and Phoenix expand. The full list includes: (1) Las Vegas (2) Orlando (3) Riverside (CA), (4) Austin (5) Phoenix, (6) Jacksonville, (7) Tampa, (8) Dallas/Fort Worth, (9) Charlotte, and (10) Atlanta.

The May issue of Business 2.0 is available on newsstands May 1. Select content from the issue is currently available online at www.Business2.com. Additional content will be posted throughout the month.