An economic recovery in Rhode Island is not expected until as late as 2011, but some sectors of the economy may see recovery before then.

The new year has arrived, but good news for job seekers hasn't come with it, at least not yet. Most economic forecasts project a bleak employment picture for at least the first half of this year, and possibly longer. So what can people looking for work, possibly wearied and discouraged last year, do to find jobs in the new year?

We spoke to job experts about the employment outlook, and asked for their advice to people looking for work in the coming year.

"People have to learn how to search smart," said Sandra Powell, director of the state Department of Labor and Training. "People don't always know how to look for jobs today. The old ways might no longer work." Powell said the savvy job-seeker needs to combine time- honored techniques, such as networking, with newer methods, such as knowing how to create an online resume.

Powell said the Department of Labor and Training maintains four career centers, in Providence, Pawtucket, Woonsocket and West Warwick, that provide a wide range of services, including workshops on resumes, interviews, and job search techniques.

The Jobs Picture: Rhode Island ended last year with an unemployment rate of 9.3 percent, among the highest in the country. The number of Rhode Islanders unemployed in November was 53,100.

A report released in November by the New England Economic Partnership, written by Edinaldo Tebaldi of Bryant University and Edward M. Mazze of the University of Rhode Island, predicted unemployment in the state could rise to 10.3 percent by the middle of next year. Job growth in Rhode Island, the report said, is not expected to arrive until 2011.

"No question the job market in Rhode Island is bleak, and the projections are bleak," said Julian Alssid, who lives in Barrington and is director of the Workforce Strategy Center, based in New York.

Powell said the Department of Labor and Training is aware of economic projections, but doesn't issue them. "Our job is to help people, whether the economy is in the doldrums or not," she said. "We try to get information to people about some of the things they can do to find jobs."

Nationally, the employment placement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas, based in Chicago, said more than a million jobs were lost last year and said it projects more of the same this year, as employers continue to respond to weak consumer and corporate spending. John Challenger, CEO of the company, said the national unemployment rate is now 6.7 percent and it could rise as high as 9 percent before economic conditions improve.

Challenger said there are a few areas of stability, even growth, across the nation, including health care, pharmaceuticals, discount retail corporations such as Wal-Mart, and agriculture. (People still need to eat, he said, even in a recession.) Finally, the federal government is going to need an influx of personnel, both to replace impending retirees and to help manage the enormous financial bailout being put into place.

Where the Jobs Are: Paul Harden, manager of business and workforce development for the Rhode Island Economic Development Corporation, pointed to health care -- even though the sector lost 300 jobs in November's employment report -- and information technology as two areas of relative strength in the Rhode Island economy.

Some sectors that have been targeted by the state as having high growth potential have been hit hard by the recession, Harden said, particularly construction. Boat building, he said, is starting to slow down, and biotech is mostly in a research mode, as opposed to production. Education hiring has been hurt by budget cuts at the state and municipal levels.

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