Veterinarian ranks as fastest growing professions in United States

National Report-Veterinarians are among the fastest growing professions in the United States, according to a recent report in Fortune magazine. The number of veterinarians is expected to increase by 36 percent between 2008 and 2018. The publication bases its conclusions on these data:

 According to the 2009-2010 National Pet Owners Survey, 62 percent of U.S. households owned at least one pet in 2008, accounting for approximately 71 million households.

Pet care was one of the only sectors of the retail industry to grow during the recession.

The American Pet Products Association estimates that pet owners will spend almost $48 billion on their pets this year, $24 billion of which will be spent on medicine and veterinary care.

Other occupations projected to grow rapidly within the next 10 years include nurses, network systems and data analysts, software and biomedical engineers, accountants and auditors.