Overall, the economic projection for American jobs is still gloomy, says The Conference Board. The number of job vacancies dropped 76,200 positions to a total of 3,857,200 in November 2011. Many “professional” occupations – such as management, business, finance, computers and math – have been adversely affected by the diminished job supply.

However, there is a glimmer of hope in the healthcare jobs sector, which showed an increase in demand this November. Last month, healthcare practitioners and technical occupations saw the nation’s largest increase in job postings, with an extra 23,300 positions added for a total of 529,000 vacancies.

Many of the new healthcare jobs include titles such as: Physical Therapists, Occupational Therapists, Speech-Language Pathologists, and Physician Assistants. There are also many positions open for Registered Nurses and Licensed Nurse Practitioners as well. It is estimated that, within the healthcare jobs category, there are 2.6 jobs for every qualified jobseeker.

According to job hunting site Indeed.com, the most healthcare jobs can be found in states like: Florida (10,675 vacancies), Georgia (6,450 vacancies), Texas (5,513 vacancies), California (5,475 vacancies), and Pennsylvania (3,694 vacancies). High demand also exists in cities like New York, NY (5,388 positions), Houston, TX (4,177 positions), Atlanta, GA (3,887 positions), Chicago, IL (3,676 positions) and Los Angeles, CA (3,620 positions).

“Skilled workers are in demand because patient demand is so high,” explains Healthcare Jobs Recruiter Eric Dickerson of Kaye/Bassman International in Dallas, Texas. He adds that General Practitioners will be in high demand because fewer have been trained over the past 10 years. We can also expect that “nurse practitioners and physician assistants will be in great demand at long-term care facilities, community clinics, [and] hospitals,” he says.