There’s a world of difference between the duties of a nurse and a retail worker, but they both have something in common as the most sought-after employees in Alabama.

The state Department of Labor this week announced 6,583 wanted ads were placed in June for nurses, retail salespersons and heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers. The information was collected and analyzed by the labor department’s Labor Market Information division.

Total ads are up 12.5% over the year.

The retail trade sector is the focus of this month’s analysis by the LMI division. The top occupations with the most online ads were retail salespersons, customer service representatives, stock clerks (sales floor), cashiers and pharmacy technicians. In addition, 15% of these jobs require an associate’s degree or higher.

“Seventy-five percent of these highlighted jobs in the retail trade industry pay more than $30,000 annually. Customer service representative ads are up by 23.4% over the year,” said Fitzgerald Washington, secretary of the Alabama Department of Labor. “These are high-quality, high-wage jobs.”

Registered nurses earn a mean wage of $29.09 per hour, retail salespersons earn a mean wage of $13.28 per hour, and heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers earn a mean wage of $20.23 per hour.

Other DOL findings include:

• 36% of job ads have salaries in the $50,000–79,000 range;

• 24% have salaries of $80,000 and above;

• 23% have salaries in the $30,000–49,000 range; and

• 17% have salaries of $30,000 or under.

The top three employers posting ads in June were: UAB Medicine (869), McDonald’s (707), and Family Dollar (653). These were followed by Pizza Hut, Allstate, Advance Auto Parts Inc., CVS, Dollar Tree Stores, Regions and Lockheed Martin to round out the top 10 employers with the most online ads.

Washington said the state DOL continues to see the importance of “soft skills” to employers. He urged Alabamians seeking a job to visit any one of the state’d 50 job centers around the state. The centers help job seekers with searches, résumé preparation and provide information about job skill workshops.

“We’d like to encourage anyone who needs a job, or wants a different job, to come into one of our Career Centers for assistance,” Washington said. “Our trained staff can assist you in obtaining the career you want.”

Limestone County’s Career Center is at 406 S. Jefferson St. The phone number is 256-230-0880.