Experienced sales representatives, software developers and nurses are the professionals best able to weather continued job erosion in the weakened U.S. economy, according to a new special report from Jobfox.

The longitudinal special report, the Jobfox Top 20 Most Recession-Proof Professions, identifies professions that have most consistently remained in highest demand over a more than eight-month period dating from November 2007 through July 7, 2008.

"During this critical period of economic slowdown, these are the professionals who have been least affected by six consecutive months of job losses in the United States," said Rob McGovern, the CEO of Jobfox. "Difficult times, unfortunately, are already here for many low-skilled workers. However, Jobfox continues to see aggressive hiring activity for many critical positions."

The top five most recession-proof professions, identified by Jobfox (www.jobfox.com) in the report, are:
1. Sales Representative/Business Development.
2. Software Design/Development.
3. Nursing.
4. Accounting & Finance Executive.
5. Accounting Staff.

Good sales representatives remain in high demand as companies battle for revenue and market share in a sluggish marketplace, according to the report. Software engineers are expected to be among the fastest-growing occupations through 2016, according to the U.S. Labor Department. As Baby Boomers age, the employment outlook remains strong for nurses. Tougher accounting and auditing regulations are mostly responsible for continued growth of accounting and finance functions.

"Competition is strong for the best job openings," McGovern said. "The key to landing the top positions is combining cutting-edge experience with important soft skills such as people development and project management."

Rounding out the top 10 of the Jobfox Top 20 Most Recession-Proof Professions list are: (6) Networking/Systems Administration, (7) Administrative Assistant, (8) Business Analysis: Software Implementation, (9) Business Analysis: Research and (10) Finance Staff. The technology sector has the most recession-busting professions in the Top 20, including Testing/Quality Assurance, Database Administration and Technology Executive.

The complete list of rankings, including Jobfox's report on July job activity, is available at www.jobfox.com/Site/Employer/pdf/TopJobsJuly08.pdf.

About the study
Each month, Jobfox ranks the top 25 professions in greatest demand by recruiters and other employer agents who use Jobfox's precision matching engine to find new or replacement workers. The Jobox Top 20 Most Recession-Proof Professions special report is derived from these monthly rankings and covers available job postings during a period from November 2007 to July 7, 2008. The most recession-proof professions are identified as those with the best median monthly rankings over this time period. Monthly rankings are based on a stratified random sample of more than 4,000 U.S. job openings posted on Jobfox. More than 150 distinct professions are analyzed. The Jobfox Top 20 Most Recession-Proof Professions special report also includes July's rankings of the most wanted job candidates during a 120-day period ending July 7, 2008.