精算师为2010年北美最佳职业

Being an actuary, calculating statistics to determine probability and risk, is the best job to have in 2010, while working on an oil rig as a roustabout is the worst, according to a study released on Tuesday.

An actuary earns about $85,000 a year and has few physical demands, little stress, a good work environment and a positive outlook for employment and income growth, said CareerCast.com, a job search site that analyzed 200 jobs in North America.

The second-best job is software engineer, followed by computer systems analyst, biologist and historian, said CareerCast.com, which rated jobs in terms of stress, working environment, physical demands, income and hiring outlook.

Being a roustabout was rated the worst, followed by lumberjack, ironworker, dairy farmer and welder, it said.

A roustabout is a dangerous job that typically pays about $31,000 a year, with high unemployment and a negative outlook for growth, the study said.

Switching to many of the best jobs would mean returning to school, said Tony Lee, publisher of CareerCast.com's 2010 Jobs Rated Report. This is its 12th annual study.

The worst jobs are "fairly miserable," Lee said. They tend to require working outdoors regardless of the weather, have elements of physical danger and do not pay very well, he said.

"On top of that, the job opportunities are not very good so if you really want one of these jobs, you may even have difficulty finding one despite the fact that they're dangerous, in bad conditions and don't pay very well," he said.

Last year, actuary placed second and mathematician first, while lumberjack ranked as the worst job.

本周二发布的一项研究报告称，2010年的最佳职业是从事数据计算、确定可能性和风险的精算师，最差职业是油井工人。

CareerCast.com求职网站对北美地区的200种职业进行了分析。该网站称，一个精算师一年大约能赚得8.5万美元的收入，而且无需耗费体力，压力小，工作环境好，就业和加薪前景也很乐观。

仅次于精算师的职业是软件工程师，其次是计算机系统分析员、生物学家和历史学家。CareerCast.com网站根据工作压力、工作环境、体力要求、收入和就业前景等因素对各种职业进行了评估。

该网站说，油井工人是最不理想的职业，其次是伐木工人、铁匠、奶农和焊工。

研究称，油井工人是一个很危险的职业，一年的收入一般为3.1万美元，而且不稳定、收入增长前景也不好。

CareerCast.com网站的《2010年职业评估报告》的发行人托尼．李说，如果想换到这些理想的职业，人们也许要回到学校进修。这是该网站的第十二份年度调查。

李说，从事最差工作的人“相当悲惨”。无论天气状况如何，这些工作通常需要户外作业，而且会有人身安全危险，薪酬也不高。

他说：“此外，这种工作机会并不多，所以如果你真的想从事这方面的工作，还不一定能找到，尽管这种工作危险、条件恶劣，报酬也不高。”

去年，精算师排在数学家之后，位列第二大最理想的职业，最糟糕的职业是伐木工人。

Vocabulary:

actuary: a person qualified to calculate commercial risks and probabilities involving uncertain future events, esp in such contexts as life assurance （保险）精算师

oil rig: rig used in drilling for oil or gas 石油钻塔

roustabout: a laborer employed for temporary or unskilled jobs, as in an oil field 搬运工

lumberjack: one who fells trees and transports the timber to a mill; a logger 伐木工人