Health care, IT jobs rise in Middle East; oil and gas jobs slide, report says

Jobs in health care, IT services and telecommunications are the Middle East's fastest growing professions, a report released recently by online job listing company Monster.com said.

The report is based on sampling of ads posted for 12 selected industries on the company's website.

Of the 12 samples between November 2014 and November 2015, eight area showed growth, lead by a 31 percent growth in IT and telecommunications jobs. The next highest demand came from the health care sector, where the job market grew 20 percent and recorded the second highest online hiring rate. The demand for health care jobs in the UAE in particular was driven by the growth of large-scale projects like Dubai Health Care City, which expects to accommodate 20,000 people.

The report found that the UAE's job market as a whole grew 24 percent and would have grown more if not for a 20 percent drop in oil and gas jobs industry jobs. The construction, engineering and real estate businesses also showed signs of dragging.

The slowdown in those industries has had an effect on other industries like finance and accounting as well, as companies and investment firms trim their assets and move into a low-risk posture. Finance and accounting jobs decreased by 2 percent.