For release 10:00 a.m. (EDT) Thursday, March 29, 2012 USDL-12-0552 

Technical information: (202) 691-5700 • oohinfo@bls.gov • www.bls.gov/ooh 

Media contact: (202) 691-5902 • PressOffice@bls.gov 

2012-13 EDITION OF THE OCCUPATIONAL OUTLOOK HANDBOOK IS NOW AVAILABLE 

The redesigned 2012-13 edition of the Occupational Outlook Handbook (OOH) was released today by 

the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The OOH reflects the Bureau's 2010-20 employment projections 

which were released on February 1, 2012. The OOH can be accessed online at www.bls.gov/ooh. 

Considered the nation’s most widely used source of career information, the OOH continues to provide 

comprehensive and up-to-date information on hundreds of occupations. The information in the OOH has 

proven invaluable to counselors, students, parents, teachers, jobseekers, career changers, education and 

training officials, and researchers. 

The Redesigned OOH 

The redesigned OOH includes several new features to make it more visually appealing and easier for 

users to find what they are looking for: 

 A reader-friendly, written-for-the-web style 

 Improved navigation through tabs, arrows, and links 

 Enhanced search features, including a “Search Handbook” box, an occupation finder tab, and an 

online index 

 Quick links to occupations with the highest pay, fastest employment growth, and those projected 

to create the most new jobs 

 A summary page for each occupational profile that provides a quick look at key facts for the 

profile, such as 2010 median pay, entry-level education, and job outlook to 2020 

 Charts comparing median pay and projected percent change in employment for each profile to all 

occupations 

 Multiple color photos for each profile 
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The 341 occupational profiles cover 536 detailed occupations, or 84.8 percent of total employment. The 

2012-13 OOH contains individual profiles for many occupations that were either covered in groups, 

covered in abbreviated profiles, or not covered in detail in the prior edition. Highlights include: 

 Individual profiles for the science and engineering occupations, which were previously covered 

in groups 

 More profiles for computer-related occupations, including individual profiles for database 

administrators; information security analysts, web developers, and computer network architects; 

and network and computer systems administrators 

 New individual profiles for occupations that manufacture and repair healthcare-related 

appliances and equipment 

 Full profiles for four occupations that were previously covered in abbreviated profiles: 

epidemiologists; fire inspectors and investigators; police, fire, and ambulance dispatchers; and 

tellers 

 Full profiles for occupations not covered in detail in the prior edition, including financial 

examiners, legislators, logisticians, and social and community service managers 

The 2010-20 Employment Projections 

The 10-year projections of industry and occupational employment are revised every 2 years. 

The Employment Projections: 2010-2020, February 1, 2012 news release covering the 2010-20 

projections is accessible at www.bls.gov/news.release/ecopro.toc.htm. Detailed information on the 

2010-20 projections appears in five articles in the January 2012 issue of the Monthly Labor Review, 

accessible online at www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/2012/01/home.htm. A graphic presentation of the highlights 

of the projections appears in the winter 2011-12 Occupational Outlook Quarterly, accessible at 

www.bls.gov/ooq/2011/winter/home.htm. Technical documentation about the projections is available 

online at www.bls.gov/emp/ep_tech_documentation.htm. 

Print Version of the OOH 

The OOH is no longer available in print from the Government Printing Office. BLS will maintain a 

list of private publishers who notify us that they plan to market a print version of the OOH. See 

www.bls.gov/ooh/about/OOH-FAQs.htm for the list of publishers. 

Information in this release will be made available to sensory impaired individuals upon request. Voice 

phone: (202) 691-5200; Federal Relay Service: (800) 877-8339.