According to Government's Quarterly Bulletin on Statistics, the three occupations which showed slow but steady growth over the past four years were construction, international bodies, and communications.

Jobs in international bodies increased steadily from 2,263 positions in 1995 to 2,874 in 1998.

There were 150 more jobs available in the communications field in 1998 than the 632 positions available in 1995.

And construction employment mirrored the boom in construction projects -- there were 2,146 jobs in 1998 versus 1,706 in 1995.

There was an overall dip in employment in the services industry, with 7,793 jobs in 1997 versus 7,508 positions in 1998.

Specifically, employment in hotels, restaurants and clubs took a slight nose dive -- there were 5,557 positions available in 1998, which is almost 450 less jobs than in the previous year.

There were also fewer clerical positions last year -- in 1998, there were 7,761 jobs in that field instead of the 7,956 jobs held in 1997.

Overall employment numbers showed a slow but steady increase: there were 34,133 positions held in 1995, 34,633 in 1996, 35,296 in 1997 and 35,323 in 1998.

BUSINESS BUC