But within these broad categories, job hunters should be discerning. The key is to avoid employers that offer products and services that cautious customers might elect to forgo or postpone.

For example, while the health care sector is generally a safe harbor during recessionary storms, elective cosmetic surgery providers aren't immune to recession as clients might decide to postpone procedures and other services. Another example is legal services, which is mostly recession-resistant. But law firms that work on mergers and acquisitions will definitely see business fall off during recessionary bear markets.

For the most part, food and beverage businesses are recession-resistant because people must eat and drink. But even upper-income households, looking at stock price volatility and falling home prices, may opt to eat at home more often, meaning that expensive eateries might cut back on staff, or even close.

But within these broad categories, job hunters should be discerning. The key is to avoid employers that offer products and services that cautious customers might elect to forgo or postpone.

For example, while the health care sector is generally a safe harbor during recessionary storms, elective cosmetic surgery providers aren't immune to recession as clients might decide to postpone procedures and other services. Another example is legal services, which is mostly recession-resistant. But law firms that work on mergers and acquisitions will definitely see business fall off during recessionary bear markets.

For the most part, food and beverage businesses are recession-resistant because people must eat and drink. But even upper-income households, looking at stock price volatility and falling home prices, may opt to eat at home more often, meaning that expensive eateries might cut back on staff, or even close.