It's A Candidate's Market On The Job Front
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Despite a down market, there's good news on the jobs front.
The U.S. added 200,000 jobs in January.
CBS 2's Dorothy Tucker looks at who's getting the jobs and where you might want to apply.
Virginia Lee is the face of the newly employed.
"I'm working for a global marketing research firm as an account manager," says Lee. "I started working on January 15."
She's among the 200,000 people added to the U.S. workforce in January.
And that number is higher than the 180,000 industry experts had predicted.
Lee saw signs of the growth a few months ago.
"I had more requests for phone interviews," she says. "Recruiters starting reaching out on Linkedin."
Chas Jhin is a hiring director for a video matching firm called Cameo.
He's currently in the market for sales representatives and engineers.
"We're going through a really explosive period of growth," says Jhin. "We're looking for engineers that can help us with mobile app development, website development."
Engineers top the list for sought-after workers. Also in demand: accountants, data analytic specialists, social media experts, finance and brand marketing reps.
Can job seekers expect a better wage than we've seen in the past?
Anita Jenke is the Executive Director at the Career Transition Center of Chicago.
"It's a candidate's market," says Jenke, adding that employers are finally looking to replace workers lost during the recession.
"Let's say they had a team of five before the recession and they're down to three and they're looking to hire the fourth. So they're looking for a very particular skill and they're probably going to be a little more aggressive on the pay to get what they want."
While a lot of the newly employed hold white-collar positions, industry experts say about half of the 200,000 are low-wage jobs.
Those are positions in retail, food service and part-time work.