It’s a good time to be a PR professional.

That’s the crux of a new book from Jeff Domansky, CEO of Peak Communications, “PRoactive: The Public Relations Job Hunter's Guide.”

Domansky says that, despite the country’s economic woes, the job market in public relations continues to grow. To buttress this point, he offers a handful of compelling stats, including:

• 24 percent growth in PR jobs forecast by 2018;
• 93 percent increase in PR job listings (November 2009 through May 2011);
• 307 percent more "social media marketing" job listings (November 2009 through June 2011);
• 34 percent of PR professionals will reach retirement age in the next four to seven years.

“PR job hunters must source these difficult-to-find job openings and must also make a special effort to be found easily in social media,” Domansky explains, appropriately enough, in a press release.

“This requires a whole new approach to using social media, managing online profiles and responding quickly to job openings in a very competitive environment.”

Domansky also outlines some new realities facing job seekers:

• The average time to find a job in the U.S. is now 39.7 weeks;
• 52 percent of new graduates found their first job through social media;
• 60 percent of new hires are made through personal connections and 37 percent of jobs are found through networking and not in job listings;
• 91 percent of employers check online profiles as part of their hiring process;
• 69 percent have rejected a candidate based on their social media profiles for a variety of online sins.

What do you think: Is this an ideal time to be a PR pro from a job-search perspective?