More Americans identify their primary occupation as artist than as lawyer, doctor, police officer or farm worker. — NYT
I found this example in one academic book. Why is there no article before the job titles? I though it's common to say something like 'N is a doctor'.
We don't use an article when referring to an occupation as occupation. A person may be "an artist" or "a lawyer" but their occupation is "artist" or "lawyer".
It looks grammatically correct although it could be phrased better.
More Americans identify their primary occupation as artist than as a lawyer, doctor, police officer or farm worker.
Although if emphasis is on artist then the following could apply
More Americans identify their primary occupation as 'artist' than as a lawyer, doctor, police officer or farm worker.
