Data scientist top job of 2016, according to U.S. job search website CareerCast.com

The job of data scientist, which combines information technology, statistical analysis and other disciplines to interpret trends from data, has been rated as the best job of 2016 by U.S. job search website CareerCast.com.

Professions in mathematics top the 28^th annual Jobs Rated report, including the role of data scientist, which was only added to the report in 2015. Statistician follows at number two and information security analyst – another newly added career to the report is at number three, CareerCast said on its website. [click image below to enlarge]

Audiologist, diagnostic medical sonographer, mathematician, software engineer, computer systems analyst, speech pathologist and actuary rounded out the top 10.

“With an increasing number of data breaches and hacking attempts affecting companies and governments around the globe, there’s a greater need for information security analysts to keep personal and top secret information safe from cyberattacks,” the website said. “The high demand for data scientists and statisticians comes from a growing emphasis on collecting and evaluating massive quantities of data. The opportunities for professionals trained in these fields are tremendous, as the IT sector, healthcare, business – and any sector that collects consumer information can put these numbers to use.” [click image below to enlarge]

Last year’s number one job – actuary – dropped to number 10 in 2015. Insurance underwriter was 80, while insurance agent was 146.

The data used to evaluate each job comes from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and the methodology involves environmental (emotional and physical) factors; income; outlook related to employment growth, income growth potential and unemployment; and stress factors. [click image below to enlarge]

The full job listing of Top 200 jobs is available at http://www.careercast.com/jobs-rated/best-jobs-2016.