The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) projections of occupational employment growth have consistently underpredicted the growth of skilled occupations. BLS currently predicts that professional, technical, and managerial jobs will account for 40.9 percent of employment growth between 1990 and 2005. Forecasting regressions predict these occupations…

Research shows that the labor market payoff to vocational education in high school is quite large when graduates work in the occupation for which they trained. Less than one-third of those who learn occupationally specific skills get training-related jobs. The occupationally specific skills learned are seldom used on a job due to lack of emphasis…