In a time where every news channel is focusing on the spiraling economy and people who have turned into cannibals, it’s nice to hear encouraging news once in a while. A recent study done by Kiplinger took the top metropolitan areas in the country with a population above 1 million people and projected their job growth over several years. They found some surprising results.

The city which is set for the most job growth is Nashville, Tennessee. With a population of 1.6 million people, they’re expected to add 140,000 jobs over the next few years. Next was San Antonio, Texas. With an identical population as Orlando of 2.2 million people, San Antonio is expected to add 150,000 new jobs, mainly attributed to available commercial space and cheaper real estate.

Coming in at #3 is Orlando! With a metro population of 2.2 million people, the city beautiful is poised to add 150,000 jobs focusing primarily on hospitality. Surprisingly though, the health care industry is booming in Orlando with many new jobs being created such as professional, transportation, personal service, and sales. Also developing a strong standing in Orlando is the High-Tech industry with Lockheed Martin, AT&T, and Siemens employing a good number of people.

Other cities making the list are Raleigh, North Carolina; Portland, Oregon; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma; Phoenix, Arizona; and Atlanta, Georgia.

It appears more of the job growth will be occurring on the east coast as opposed to the west coast with the reasoning being low real estate prices and a high volume of available commercial space. This is welcome news to a city that was hit hard by the recession. Maybe this is a turn of the tides and things will start to look up!

Be sure to take our poll below.