Mathematicians have best jobs in the US

New York: Perhaps S. Ramanujan, modern India's best known mathematician who worked as a clerk, should have been born in present-day United States, where number-crunching has emerged as the top career choice, as shown by a study.

"Compiling research on 200 different positions, this year's JobsRated.com report ranks mathematician's as the country's best job, followed by actuary and statistician - three jobs for which a calculator and solitude are prerequisites," the career and job website CareerCast.com has found.

The study evaluated 200 professions on five criteria: environment, income, employment outlook, physical demands and stress.

Worst of the lot

"Remember that kid in elementary school who always had a pencil and calculator nearby, and while the rest of us drew pictures, read comic books or played cards, that kid was happily crunching numbers - for fun. Fast forward 20 years or so, and it turns out that the kid probably has one of best careers around today," said the website run by Adicio Inc., a "developer of web-based classified advertising solutions".

On the other hand, lumberjack was found to be the worst job in the US. Also, the most satisfying career was found to be that of a clergyman.

"On the opposite end of the spectrum, the Monty Python troupe made famous the song, I'm a lumberjack and I'm OK. Unfortunately, our study finds that lumberjacks have the nation's worst job, followed by dairy farmers and taxi drivers, which seems to bear out the old grade-school adage that 'it's better to earn a living with your head rather than with your hands.'," the study report noted.

Among others, a publication editor ranks much higher (31) than a radio and television newscaster (75), while a newspaper reporter ranks 140th in the list.

Becoming a choreographer (161) is a better job than being a chauffeur (162), a bartender (163) or an undertaker (164).