Having trouble landing a job in one of the more traditional employment hot spots like New York City, Chicago, or Los Angeles? Well, you may want to look elsewhere for opportunities because New York City is predicted to lose 181,000 jobs this year alone and each of the two other major cities is predicted to lose a similar number of jobs.

If you are willing to relocate, you should look for jobs in cities where the unemployment situation is not so grim. Forbes has looked into its crystal ball and pulled together a list of the 10 Best Cities for Jobs in 2009. The top three cities for jobs (based on unemployment rate and the number of new jobs created in the previous six months) are: Madison, Wisconsin, Washington, D.C., and Boston, MA.

So, why does Madison have a positive outlook for job growth and a strikingly low unemployment rate? The University of Wisconsin is a huge employer, and the University’s research branch, the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation, has made Madison a hub for the biotech, healthcare, and medical-device industries. Also, the city is home to the state’s government and diverse companies.

And how about Washington, D.C.? Washington D.C. benefits from an ample supply of government jobs. For Washington, the government is the city’s largest employer. Washington also benefits from its numerous nonprofits, professional associations, law firms, and defense contractors, as well as from education. In fact, schools are the third largest employer in the city, and 30,000 new education jobs are predicted for 2009. 

Finally, what makes Boston, MA a hot spot for jobs? The abundance of hospitals, research institutions, and universities in the area drives Boston’s economy and produces a highly-educated workforce, which in turn has been attracting an increasing number of biotech and software companies to the area, giving the city a leg up in the job market. Also, because Boston is home to mainly hedge funds, trust services, and deposit banks, it was able to avoid many of the problems that hit New York’s financial institutions during the subprime mortgage crisis.

And, if you just cannot imagine yourself living in Madison, D.C., or Boston, how about Pittsburg or Houston?

Forbes’ 10 best cities for jobs in 2009 list:

1. Madison, Wisconsin
2. Washington, D.C.
3. Boston, Massachusetts
4. Richmond, Virginia
5. Milwaukee, Wisconsin
6. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
7. Baltimore, Maryland
8. Seattle, Washington
9. Houston, Texas
10. Dallas, Texas