The Number of Maryland Jobs Posted Online Grew in July

Employers continued to post a fair number of Maryland job vacancies online in July, according to the most recent The Conference Board Help-Wanted OnLine Data Series. For every 100 people in the state's workforce there were 3.8 job announcements posted on the Internet. This means that Maryland is in the top 10 states in the nation for online help-wanted ads.

Nationally, the number of job vacancies posted by employers fell from June's revised 4,194,900 to 3,864,100, which is a large decline that was seasonally expected. The 330,800 jobs announcements lost translates to a 7.9 percent decrease. This marks the fifth month in a row that country has experienced a year-over-year decrease in the number of jobs advertised online.

"July is typically a slow month in terms of labor demand, but this month advertised vacancies were weaker than we would expect," said Conference Board Senior Economist Gad Levanon. "There is little evidence of any approaching turning point in labor demand. Changes in the volume of job advertising typically lead employment trends, and considering the declines in advertised vacancies for all of 2008, the outlook for the labor market remains gloomy -- exactly the sentiment weighing on consumer attitudes."

For every 100 individuals in the nation's workforce, there were only 2.5 jobs posted online. This shows that Maryland is doing significantly better than much of the country. Of the total unduplicated job vacancies posted by employers throughout America, 2,708,000 were new ads not posted in the previous month. According to the statistics, six of the nine regions recognized by the Census Bureau showed year-over-year declines in the demand for new workers.

Alaska had the highest rate of ads posted online, with 4.99 Internet job announcements for every 100 people in the state's workforce. Statistics show that Wyoming employers had the smallest ration of jobs available, with less than 1 advertisement for every 100 workers in the state.

Nationally, healthcare continued to lead as the industry with the highest demand for new workers. "Many jobs in high demand are also, on average, among the highest paying occupations," said Levanon.

Overall, healthcare announced 527,200 job vacancies, computer and mathematical fields added 510,600, which means these two categories had more ads online than any other industries. According to the most recent statistics on average hourly wages throughout the country, healthcare practitioners made on average $31 an hour and computer and mathematical specialists made around $34 an hour. Other high demand occupations included management, with 474,200 announced job vacancies, office and administrative support, 441,400, and sales, with 338,900.

In Maryland, employment in the nonprofit sector is increasing almost three times as fast as for-profit business, according to a report released by Johns Hopkins University in June. Statistics show that the workforce in this area grew by 2.9 percent in 2006, which is the most recent data. For-profit businesses were noted to have increased their employees by 1.1 percent. Statewide, nonprofit employers account for 9.6 percent of all jobs, which is well above the national average of 7.2 percent.