Hey, Amazon: Check out Philadelphia's growth in computer jobs

Among the myriad reasons Philadelphia has made such a hard pitch to host Amazon's second headquarters may be that — according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics — the fastest-growing career field is in "computer and mathematical occupations." Real estate firm Abodo recently parsed the data to determine how the top 25 metro areas stack up in terms of job opportunity. Philadelphia is number 23 for jobs in the computer and math fields.

The top regions for such jobs aren't likely to surprise: They are in the Pacific Northwest, adjacent to Silicon Valley, and in the Washington, D.C., metro area. Philadelphia also was bested byAmazon finalists Austin, Denver, Boston and Atlanta.

The most surprising data in the set relate to construction and extraction jobs. While one might be forgiven for assuming Philadelphia would be near the top of the list (considering the endless road and sidewalk closures), Abodo says the city is number 43. It's because the category also includes "extraction jobs," which might explain why Houston, New Orleans and Oklahoma — home to oil and gas drilling — beat Philly so handily in that regard. The city fared somewhat better in terms of opportunity for jobs in business and finance, as well as jobs in the health-care industries (at numbers 21 and 12, respectively).

According to the report, the very good news (for some of us) is that the city ranks number three for job opportunities in community and social services. This includes social workers, counselors, religious workers, probation officers, therapists and community health workers. Only Hartford and Providence had more opportunity in that area.

Philadelphia's job rankings:
#43 in construction
#23 in tech, computer & math
#21 in business and finance
#12 in health care
#3 in community and social service