(From US News and World Report) People with science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) degrees or certifications are in a prime position in the economy, according to a new workforce study released this morning.

Workers with associate's degrees in STEM fields out-earn 63 percent of people who have bachelor's degrees in other fields. Almost half of workers with bachelor's degrees in STEM fields out-earn workers with Ph.D.'s in other fields, according to the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce.

That doesn't mean people with STEM degrees are necessarily working in those fields, says center Director Anthony Carnevale, the lead author of the report. He says technical skills have "become the common currency of the labor market," much the same way a liberal arts education was seen as a basic requirement for high-paying jobs in past years.

Occupations in STEM jobs will continue to grow—the center estimates that careers in the field will make up about 5 percent of all jobs by 2018, but demand for STEM skills in other fields has skyrocketed.

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