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Despite logging 25 years as a nurse and nursing director at Rhode Island Hospital, Terry Monaghan admitted to feeling vulnerable last summer when she started looking for a new job to shorten her daily commute from the Providence area to South County Hospital.

In her 50s and already beginning to think about future retirement, Monaghan was wary of the risks of attempting a job change.

"I was nervous," said Monaghan, who had the misfortune of entering the job market just as a tanking economy began to push layoffs skyward.

But Monaghan, weary of commuting an hour or more each way day on $4 a gallon gas, was also determined.

Monaghan and her nursing experience were quickly snapped up by Sturdy Memorial Hospital in Attleboro as nurse manager for the hospital's Montplaisir Unit. "I was looking for a job as a staff nurse, but they needed someone in management," she said. "It's been a great fit. Everybody here was so welcoming."

As a highly trained health professional, Monaghan is a rarity among Massachusetts employees: a worker whose job skills are in increasing demand during a deep recession.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, education and health services was one of only two sectors of the Massachusetts economy where employment actually increased over the last 12 months. Government employment also increased slightly.

Manufacturing, construction, financial services and leisure and hospitality all fell in February by rates ranging from 1.8 to 11.8 percent from levels a year earlier.

But despite the general malaise, health care is just one of a number of select areas where workers are in demand.

Engineers, specialty medical technicians, pharmacists and information technologists are among several employment areas for which companies and government agencies are hiring, said Paul Bondonaro, vice president and Boston regional manager for Kelly Services, a nationwide staffing company.

Michael Taylor, director of work force development for the state's Department of Labor and Work Force Development, said biotechnology and medical records technology have also remained growth areas.

Taylor said such "knowledge-based" industries are likely to help lead a broader Massachusetts recovery as government stimulus measures and other positive economic trends take hold.

While Massachusetts' manufacturing employment was down 4 percent in February, compared with a year ago, technology-based manufacturing has remained a strength in the Attleboro area.

Invensys Process Systems, which manufactures automation for oil refineries, food processing plants and power generation stations, recently announced plans to hire about 100 engineers and support workers for a new "Center of Nuclear Excellence" in Foxboro for the company's nuclear power plant control business. Ineoquest, a Mansfield maker of test and monitoring equipment and software for cable and information processing video systems, also continues to grow.

However, many technology companies, such as Attleboro's Sensata Technologies, have contracted as the automobile and housing industries for which they manufacture products have declined.

Much of the hiring action, however, is in health care.

"Regardless of the economy, patients still need care when they're sick," Monaghan said.

Cheryl Barrows, Sturdy vice president for human resources, said that while the hospital has had very little turnover in personnel in the last six months, it continues to be on the lookout for specialists in the medical technology field, such as digital imaging and laboratory technologists, and even has some onsite training programs.

"Not every job requires years of schooling," she said. "For some of them, you can go to a two-year program."

There are also openings for support workers who don't necessarily work in a hospital or doctor's office.

"There's a great need for pharmacists, not just the ones you see in CVS, but people who work in pharmaceutical research or in clinical settings," he said. "There's also a need for people who work in third-party medical billing."

Hospitals need more nurses to care for an aging population and to replace those nearing retirement, said Cheryl Peterson, director of nursing practice and policy at the American Nurses Association.

Hospitals nationwide added 7,000 jobs of all kinds last year.

Jobs that require lab coats or nurse's uniforms aren't the only ones that are blossoming in an otherwise dismal economy.

Mortgage service companies that collect payments for originating lenders are hiring as falling rates spur mortgage refinance applications.

Marina Walsh, associate vice president of industry analysis at the Mortgage Bankers Association, said servicers are "just scrambling for workers."

And engineers of all kinds are in demand, said Tig Gilliam, chief executive of Adecco Group North America, a nationwide staffing company.

Adecco is currently trying to fill about 1,200 engineering jobs, he said.

Tom Clary, a spokesman for Invensys Process Systems, said his company is looking to fill a number of engineering and support positions at its Foxboro location.

"We have an immediate need for project managers who have experience in the nuclear industry, working in an engineering, supervisory and project-management capacity," he said. "They should be familiar with nuclear regulatory and quality assurance requirements and be PMI-certified.

"Additionally, we are looking for senior engineers who have experience working on control systems in the nuclear industry, as well as quality engineers who have experience maintaining nuclear regulatory and ISO 9001 QA compliance."

Other job areas where IPS is hiring include senior buyers and verification and validation managers experienced in the process control sector. Potential applicants can visit www.ips.invensys.com and click on the "Careers" tab for more information.

Labor and Work Force Development's Taylor said forthcoming federal stimulus programs should give an additional lift to Massachusetts information technology, biotech and green energy companies that will promote additional jobs as the state begins its recovery from recession.

Meditech, a Bay State firm that specializes in automating medical records, could benefit greatly from a federal initiative to computerize such records, he said.

Stimulus funds targeting alternative energy could go far toward creating jobs at local companies like Mechanology, which has a major stake in that industry.