When I started as a trainee on the Portsmouth (UK) News, the chief reporter told me it was "better than working"... but the reporter's job has again been rated the worst in the USA.

In its 28th annual Jobs Rated report, US recruitment portal CareerCast.com has again listed newspaper reporter as the nation's worst job. Taking the title for the third consecutive year, that puts print journos behind nuclear decontamination technicians and garbage truck drivers.

Factors here are the salary (put at US$36,390) and prospects, rated at minus nine per cent between now and 2024. Maybe it's time to move across to data scientist, which rates as top job with a US$128,240 salary and 16.02 per cent growth prospects.

Logger, broadcaster, disc jockey, enlisted military, retail sales, advertising sales, taxi driver, and firefighter round out the ten least desirable jobs for 2016.

The website's online content editor Kyle Kensing says traditional news media has been "particularly hard hit due to newspapers folding or moving to digital-only, and waning advertising revenue."

Employment of broadcasters is expected to decline by nine per cent, but with the opportunity to parlay skills into a career as a podcaster, online news producer or data journalist. Print newspaper reporters can transfer their skills to writing for online mediums, public relations, or corporate communications jobs.

CareerCast's 10 worst jobs of 2016:

CareerCast's 10 best jobs of 2016:

CareerCast.com, created by Adicio, is a job search portal that offers extensive local, niche and national job listings from across North America. The Jobs Rated Report ranks 200 jobs across North America on detailed analysis of specific careers factors.

Peter Coleman