Christmas lights illuminate a central street in Madrid, Spain
Despite news of tax rises, austerity budgets, soaring unemployment and a euro zone crisis, most Spaniards will take a "puente" (bridge) day in between Monday's Constitution Day and Wednesday's Feast of the Immaculate Conception to create a five-day weekend of shopping, eating, visiting and spending. REUTERS/Juan Medina

A telephonic survey among 919 employed U.S. citizens conducted by market research firm Harris Interactive on behalf of Heald College has shown that the largest group among them is most thankful about the stability of their jobs. The survey asked workers to identify what they were most grateful for in their work life apart from the pay.

Twenty-five percent of respondents chose stability in the Workplace Thankfulness Survey, closely followed by 24 percent who said that they valued most the flexibility that their position offers.

With the unemployment rate edging up to 9.8% in November and concerns of a double dip emerging every now and then, it is small wonder that those who hold jobs are extremely grateful for the fact that they can expect to keep them in the long run.

But as one would expect intuitively, the aspect of stability was a more critical factor for those under the age of 54 than those above; the predominant group among the latter opted for job satisfaction over stability.

Based on industry trend information through 2016 from the U.S. Department of Labor and Heald College placement data, the survey report also identifies five professions - three in healthcare - as ones that are expected to generate continuous demand for workers. These are those of Medical Assistant, Pharmacy Technician, Legal and Accounting Administrative Assistant, Network Systems Administration and Dental Assistant.

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