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10 jobs with the worst 2016 outlook

Stress, low wages and lack of career opportunities are among the reasons CareerCast places the following jobs at the bottom of its list. The firm’s analysis includes each job’s environment (emotional, physical and hours worked), income (growth potential and salary), outlook (employment growth, income growth potential and unemployment), and 11 stress factors to determine which professions are among the least desirable.
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10. Firefighter

Potentially life-threatening hazards are the daily norm for firefighters, which contributes to high stress in this vital, albeit challenging, job.
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9. Taxi driver

Taxi-driving jobs come with inherent stress. Pay is low, yet competition is high due to the proliferation of companies like Uber and Lyft.
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8. Advertising salesperson

Declining job prospects and high stress put advertising sales people into the bottom 10 for the first time.
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7. Retail salesperson

Retail sales positions make for fitting first jobs for many, but working as a lower level sales person full-time comes with serious challenges. Chief among them is the low pay, just $21,670 at the average median.
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6. Pest control worker

Pest control workers are tasked with handling potentially hazardous pesticides – and that’s just one of their challenges. Their day-to-day duties put them in front of phobia-inducing creatures like snakes and spiders, all while earning a scant annual median salary.
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5. Enlisted military personnel

According to CareerCast, signing up for a branch of the U.S. Armed Forces requires resolve and dedication far beyond that asked in most careers. Enlisted military personnel face danger and high stress, and bring home an annual median salary of $27,936 a year.
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4. DJ

Radio stations face mounting struggles, competing with burgeoning streaming services and podcasts. Stations with budgetary restrictions opt to use playlist programs instead of traditional disc jockeys, cutting down on small market or entry-level positions.
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3. Broadcaster

Shrinking opportunities in the industry, low pay and high stress, coupled with working in the public eye, land broadcaster in the worst jobs category for 2016.
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2. Logger

Declining use of paper has negatively impacted employment prospects in the logging industry. The job’s high stress and dangerous work environment also contribute to its place in the worst jobs of 2016.
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1. Journalist

Print publications have suffered declining sales over the past decade as news moves online. Reporters have far fewer job prospects, and declining ad revenue means unfavorable pay for those in the Fourth Estate.
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