Hottest Fields: Government Jobs vs. Private Jobs

If you're shopping for a job, you'll probably have the best luck finding something in the retail sales or cashiers departments. According to the most recent numbers released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, those occupations employ the largest number of people in the private sector. Retail sales accounts for 4.2 million workers and 3.4 million are cashiers. Together they make up almost 7 percent of all non-government jobs.

And if you're looking for a government position, it seems your best luck would be in elementary education. Elementary school teachers had the highest employment among all occupations in federal, state, and local government, according to a release from the BLS's Occupational Employment Statistics (OES) program. Also, the government generally pays better.

-- See average salaries for people employed by the government.