According to data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the national unemployment rate rose 0.1 percent in June from May’s 9.4 percent to 9.5 percent. Considering the increase in joblessness across the country, it makes sense that there were fewer job listings advertised online during the month.
The Monster Employment Index, put out by job search giant Monster.com, dropped one percentage point in June. This means that there was a small decline in the number of jobs online last month. According to a recent press release from Monster, this loss of advertised positions was expected.
Job markets across the country have seasonal trends. On average, online recruitment slows during the month of June. Businesses that increase their staff during the summer months, such as employers in the leisure and hospitality industry, have already completed the majority of their hiring. Add to this the fact that places like school districts have not begun to hire new employees and you have a large part of the reason hiring is slower during the month of June.
According to Monster Worldwide, the year-over-year decline in jobs listed online that has been noted since the onset of the nationally experienced recession is showing some signs of slowing. Currently, the Index is down 28 percent, which is a note-worthy improvement from the rate of decline experienced in April and May.
“While U.S. online job availability has remained largely flat since January, the annual pace improved during the second quarter, suggesting some expansion in underlying employer demand for workers,” said senior vice president and chief knowledge officer at Monster Worldwide Jesse Harriott in the company’s recent report. “Still, current levels of online job vacancies are at their lowest since January 2005, illustrating the extent to which hiring has slowed during this recession.”
Monster fond that online job availability increased in 8 of the 20 industry sectors monitored by the Index and 12 of the 23 occupational categories during the month of June. The largest increase in jobs listed online occurred in the real estate, rental and leasing area of employment. Representatives from Monster believe this shows signs that the industry is beginning to stabilize.
According to the report, the increased data in this area of employment occurred around the same time as the National Association of Realtors put out improved statistics on residential sales. This shows that the housing sector might be registering an increase in activity.
As far as occupations monitored by Monster go, the legal and protective services showed the greatest increase in jobs online. During the same period, Monster noted ease in demand for technically skilled positions.
According to Monster, the states with the largest of number of jobs online in relation to their populations were: 1.) Alaska 2.) Maryland 3.) Vermont 4.) Delaware 5.) Rhode Island 6.) Montana 7.) Virginia 8.) Connecticut 9.) Massachusetts and 10.) Wyoming.
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Jobs Online Fall in June
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Job Listings Continue to Fall in May
The national unemployment rate continued to rise is June, increasing 0.1 percent from May's 9.4 percent to 9.5 percent. This marked the 9th consecutive month of growing joblessness. Considering this, it is no surprise that job listings and other indicators showed further signs of decline during the month.
According to a recent report from the Conference Board, its Employment Trends Index (ETI) saw another moderate decline in June. Last month it lost 0.8 percentage points, falling from May's 89.1 to 88.4. Currently the Index is down 21.6 percent from the same month last year.
"Compared to the beginning of the year, the decline in the Employment Trends Index has significantly moderated, and we therefore expect job growth to resume around the end of the year," said The Conference Board's Senior Economist Gad Levanon in the press release. "However, over the last month, leading indicators of employment were mostly disappointing, suggesting the Employment Trends Index is still seeking a bottom."
During the month of June the indicators the Conference Board utilizes to create its ETI reported a mixed picture, which is why the decline was only moderate. Indicators that showed decline included: the percentage of respondents that they find "jobs hard to get", the number of employees in the temporary-help industry, industrial production, real manufacturing and trade sales and job openings.
The Employment Trends Index uses eight separate labor-market indicators, all of which have been found to be accurate in their own right. Afterwards, these areas are combined to give a better picture of the current hiring situation. By doing this, the Conference Board is able to get a better picture of whether or not the number of job listings and other factors affecting the job market are actually declining. It also enables them to see what the trends really are.
The eight areas that come together to create the index are: the percentage of people polled who say that finding a job is difficult (The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Survey), Claims for Unemployment Insurance (U.S. Department of Labor), the number of employees hired on a temporary basis (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics), the percentage of firms that are not able to fill positions at the time (National Federation of Independent Business), the number of people hired by temp agencies (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics), part-time workers hired for Economic Reasons (BLS), job listings (BLS), Industrial Production (Federal Reserve Board) and Real Manufacturing and Trade Sales (U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis).
The Conference Board will be releasing its next Employment Trends Index at 10:00 am on August 10th. This report will highlight the condition of July's job market. The Conference Board releases its ETI each month on the Monday after the Friday that the Bureau of Labor Statistics releases its employment situation report.
