Surprising Industry for Growth: The Arts

Though job creation amid the current economic recovery appears anemic, long-term government forecasts call for the U.S. labor force to grow by 10 percent, or about 15 million people by 2018.

A significant chunk of those jobs are expected to be created in so-called "professional and related occupations" and "service occupations," according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The number of registered nurses, for example, is expected to climb by 582,000, while the number of customer service representatives is projected to increase by 400,000.