Monster Employment Index – August 2008

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Monster Employment Index At a Glance

Index: 159
Monthly Change: Up 2
Year-to-year Change: Down 27 Points
Regions Growing: 7
Regions Unchanged: 1
Regions Declining: 1

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Monster Employment Index Edges Up in August
August 2008 Index Highlights:
• Index edges up two points in August, ending three-month period
of decline, as employers prepare for the late-summer and fall
hiring season
• Year-on-year growth pace remains largely unchanged, indicating
no major change in underlying demand
• Recruiting in the mining industry accelerates, while manufacturing
and construction continue downward trend
• Education and healthcare occupations show continued increases
in online job availability
• Offerings in the West North Central region rebound in August,
following a summer of storm-related disruptions
• Portland and Seattle see reduced online recruitment activity in
science and tech industries while Washington, D.C. and
Philadelphia exhibit the steepest overall declines on the year
Summary Overview
The Monster Employment Index rose moderately in August, adding two
points, as a majority of industries, occupations, and regions registered
increased online job availability, suggesting that U.S. employers began
gearing up for the late-summer and fall hiring season. The Monster
Employment Index is a monthly gauge of U.S. online job demand based
on a real-time review of millions of employer job opportunities culled from
a large representative selection of corporate career Web sites and job
boards, including Monster®.
During August, online job availability rose in 14 of the Index’s 20 industry
categories and in 13 of the 23 occupational categories measured.
However, on a year-over-year basis, the Index remained down 14 percent
from a year ago. Index results for the past 13 months are as follows:
AUG 08 JUL 08 JUN 08 MAY 08 APR 08 MAR 08 FEB 08 JAN 08 DEC 07 NOV 07 OCT 07 SEP 07 AUG 07
186
159 157 163 166 174 167 165 160 169 183 188 186
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“Employers are now stepping up their online recruitment efforts in
preparation for the fall hiring season but activity in the job market remains
muted compared to a year ago,” said Jesse Harriott, Vice President of
Research at Monster Worldwide. “On the upside, the Index’s overall
annual growth rate remained steady, suggesting no major change in
underlying nationwide demand for labor compared to July.”
Utilities Industry Registers Largest Monthly Gain in Online Job Demand in
August
Online job demand in the utilities industry registered the highest rate of
increase in August, recovering slightly from a two-month slide. Meanwhile,
the finance and insurance; and accommodation and food services
industries, two sectors heavily impacted by economic downturn, each
showed a slight increase in online recruitment activity during the month.
In contrast, online demand in the professional, scientific and technical
services industry edged lower on the month, extending a trend of cooling
demand that followed intense springtime hiring activity. Meanwhile, the
smaller agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting industry saw the most
dramatic decline on the month.
On a year-over-year basis, the generally non-cyclical public
administration and agriculture industries showed the highest annual
growth rate and remain at the top of the list. Despite tumbling
commodities prices in energy, growth in the mining industry has
accelerated, reflecting sustained high demand for skilled workers in oil,
gas and metals. Meanwhile, information; and professional, scientific and
technical services saw the sharpest decelerations in annual growth
among industries between July and August.
Education, Training and Library Occupations See Sharply Higher Online
Job Availability in August
Among occupations, education, training and library registered the largest
monthly increase in online opportunities in August, suggesting that the
sector is facing unique staffing needs in advance of the start of the school
year. Both the healthcare support and healthcare practitioners and
technical occupational categories also showed growth in August.
Opportunities for office and administrative support workers also
expanded, enabling the category to regain some traction following an
extended cooling trend that dates back to early spring.
In contrast, farming, fishing and forestry registered the sharpest decline on
the month, followed by personal care and service; and protective service.
Management; and installation, maintenance and repair were the only
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other two occupational categories that registered fewer opportunities in
August compared to the previous month.
On a year-over-year basis, four occupational categories are showing
greater online demand compared to a year ago. For the fourth
consecutive month, farming, fishing, and forestry is the Index’s top
occupational category in terms of annual growth, followed by healthcare
practitioners and technical and military specific occupations. Meanwhile,
management lost momentum in August, slipping into negative year-over-
year growth after significantly elevated activity through the spring and
early summer months.
Online Job Availability Increases in Seven of Nine U.S. Census Bureau
Regions in August
Online job demand rose in seven of the nine U.S. Census Bureau regions in
August, with West North Central registering the largest increase on the
month. The area’s rebound from a large decline in July suggests
businesses are generally back to normal, following disruptions generally
attributed to the devastating floods that hit the region in June.
Meanwhile, East South Central was the only region to show a decline in
online demand in August, while the Pacific region remained flat.
Year-over-year, all nine regions are down compared to a year ago, with
West South Central showing the smallest contraction. Meanwhile, the
annual growth rates for the New England and Mountain regions improved
slightly, however both remain in negative territory.
At the state level, online job demand increased in 40 U.S. states plus the
District of Columbia between July and August. Adjusting the number of
online help-wanted ads for total employment, the following states had the
highest per-worker online job availability during August:
Rank State
1 Alaska
2 Massachusetts
3 Connecticut
4 Vermont
5 Delaware
6 Maryland
7 Colorado
8 Arizona
9 Wyoming
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10 New Jersey
Eight of the Top 28 Major U.S. Metro Markets Register Gains in August
During August, online recruitment activity increased in eight of the 28 U.S.
metro areas monitored by the Index, with Boston registering the sharpest
gain. Online job availability in San Diego, which is among the weaker
trending markets this year, also jumped amid rising demand for education
and healthcare occupations. At the same time, Seattle remained flat in
August, resulting from a balance between weaker demand for blue-collar
opportunities and strong demand for white-collar opportunities.
On an annual basis, Pittsburgh is once again the only metro market
showing greater online job availability compared to a year ago and
remains the Index’s top growth market year-over-year, driven by higher
demand for construction, transportation and production occupations.
Despite a slight gain in August, Houston continued to lose momentum
from a long term perspective, and similar trends in neighboring Dallas
suggests cooling in the once-hot Texas economy. Portland demonstrated
the most dramatic change in annual growth rate between July and
August as demand turned lower for a majority of white-collar
occupational categories.