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Online Recruitment Activity Rises in Top 28 U.S. Metro Markets in February, According to the Monster Local Employment Index
NEW YORK-(Business Wire)-March 22, 2007 - Online job availability rose in all of the top 28 U.S. metro markets in February, as employers resumed their recruiting efforts at the start of the early-spring hiring season, according to the latest findings of the Monster Local Employment Index. During the month, 23 of the 28 metro areas tracked by the Index saw online recruitment activity climb at least three points or higher, with five of the markets rising to their highest levels to date.
"The February findings of the Monster Local Employment Index show a solid rebound in online recruitment activity across 28 of the nation's largest cities, after a seasonal slowdown that extended into January," said Steve Pogorzelski, Group President, International at Monster Worldwide. "The Index's broad rise last month underscores the underlying strength of the U.S. job market and tight labor conditions across much of the country. High demand for business and professional services, education, and food services workers helped spur the growth of online job availability in major cities across the country," added Pogorzelski. The overall U.S. unemployment rate (4.5 percent) was essentially unchanged in February, and non-farm payroll was trending up, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).
During February, six markets (Atlanta, Chicago, Cleveland, Houston, Los Angeles and St. Louis) jumped seven points, while Dallas and Sacramento added five points, and Cincinnati, Detroit, Indianapolis and New York City all gained four points. Philadelphia and Phoenix saw the smallest increases last month, edging up one point each.
The sharp increase in the Index for Los Angeles was driven by greater demand for healthcare professionals, with both practitioners and technical and support categories establishing historical highs. According to the BLS, employment in the healthcare and social assistance industry increased significantly between January 2006 and January 2007 in Los Angeles, and the latest Index findings suggest continued strong intent to hire among local employers.
Chicago, which saw its unemployment rate dip below four percent in the fourth quarter of last year for the first time since 1998, saw greater online job availability for business and professional services in February, offsetting layoffs in the manufacturing and information services industries. Online demand rose for several white-collar categories, including business and financial operations; computer and mathematical; and arts, design, entertainment, sports and media occupations.
In the Midwest, online recruitment continued to grow at a rapid pace last month, with Cleveland and St. Louis jumping seven points and emerging as the fourth and fifth fastest growing markets year-over-year, respectively. However, persistent weakness in the manufacturing sector, which traditionally has had a high concentration of employment in the region, has resulted in mostly flat overall payroll growth in these two markets according to the BLS.
Despite gains of three and six points last month, respectively, San Diego and Sacramento lost pace on a year-over-year basis. Each of the markets saw online recruitment activity decline over the year in several important categories, with Sacramento losing steam in management; computer and mathematical; and legal occupations, and San Diego experiencing a downturn in business and financial operations; architecture and engineering; and sales and related occupations. Online demand for office and administrative support occupations also dipped year-over-year in both markets. However, strong demand in community and social services, and protective services helped offset downward pressure in Sacramento, while strong demand for workers in transportation and material moving helped boost overall demand for workers in San Diego.
Online recruitment activity among blue-collar occupations in Miami, Orlando and Tampa continued to show the possible effects of a cooling housing market. Although each market edged up four points in February, all three metro areas registered lower online job availability for construction and extraction, building and grounds cleaning and maintenance, production and transportation and material moving occupations compared to a year ago. In addition, architecture and engineering occupations were also down on a year-over-year basis in Miami and Orlando.
For the top 28 metro markets combined, the education, training and library category increased the most in February, while military-specific occupations, which extended a five-month downward trend, was the only category that fell for the month. Meanwhile, protective services and food preparation and serving-related occupations showed the fastest growth pace year-over-year, with food occupations experiencing high demand throughout the country, and 27 of the 28 metro markets tracked by the Index showing growth year-over-year.
The Index also showed a greater number of online opportunities for transportation and material moving occupations in shipping hubs such as Houston, Seattle and San Diego compared to the same month a year ago, reflecting strong international trade and commerce. In contrast, online job demand for architecture and engineering occupations declined over the year in 18 of 28 markets, with the increasingly cooler housing markets of Phoenix, Boston and San Diego declining the most.
Half of the markets tracked saw their annual growth pace edge higher in February, suggesting a broad-based firming in online job demand for workers. Houston, Dallas and Atlanta are now the top growth markets year-over-year, both overall and in several occupational categories which are sensitive to population growth, including education, training, and library; construction and extraction; and sales and related occupations. Growing online job demand in the region suggests that strong demographic trends may be fueling the need for workers in schools, housing and retail.
Overall results for the top 28 U.S. metro markets over the past 12 months are as follows: -0- *T FEB JAN DEC NOV OCT SEP AUG JUL JUN MAY APR MAR FEB 07 07 06 06 06 06 06 06 06 06 06 06 06 ——————————————————————————————————— Atlanta 113 106 109 110 111 110 108 106 106 106 106 105 103 ——————————————————————————————————— Baltimore 105 101 105 106 107 106 107 102 103 103 104 103 102 ——————————————————————————————————— Boston 104 102 103 105 108 107 107 100 104 106 104 103 102 ——————————————————————————————————— Chicago 109 102 105 109 110 108 107 104 105 106 105 104 102 ——————————————————————————————————— Cincinnati 108 103 105 108 106 106 105 106 105 109 105 101 102 ——————————————————————————————————— Cleveland 113 106 110 113 113 108 109 105 106 107 108 104 103 ——————————————————————————————————— Dallas 114 108 107 111 110 110 109 107 107 108 107 106 103 ——————————————————————————————————— Denver 108 104 108 112 112 112 113 109 106 109 109 107 102 ——————————————————————————————————— Detroit 108 103 106 110 109 108 108 104 104 106 105 103 103 ——————————————————————————————————— Houston 122 115 117 120 120 117 115 112 111 112 110 107 105 ——————————————————————————————————— Indianapolis 108 103 104 109 108 108 107 107 105 106 109 105 103 ——————————————————————————————————— Kansas City 111 108 110 114 114 113 111 106 107 109 107 104 103 ——————————————————————————————————— Los Angeles 110 103 103 104 105 104 101 104 102 104 104 105 103 ——————————————————————————————————— Miami 108 104 105 107 108 106 105 103 105 106 106 106 104 ——————————————————————————————————— Minneapolis 110 108 110 114 116 113 111 109 109 108 107 106 103 ——————————————————————————————————— New York City 108 103 104 108 108 106 106 102 104 106 106 103 103 ——————————————————————————————————— Orlando 106 102 103 107 106 105 105 103 101 103 103 103 101 ——————————————————————————————————— Philadelphia 104 103 104 107 106 105 105 102 101 103 103 103 103 ——————————————————————————————————— Phoenix 106 105 105 110 110 111 112 110 111 113 109 106 103 ——————————————————————————————————— Pittsburgh 108 105 105 109 109 106 106 103 102 103 103 106 104 ——————————————————————————————————— Portland 109 105 105 111 113 112 115 107 108 110 106 102 103 ——————————————————————————————————— Sacramento 108 102 105 108 109 106 109 105 103 106 109 108 107 ——————————————————————————————————— San Diego 106 103 106 110 111 110 115 107 106 107 106 105 106 ——————————————————————————————————— San Francisco 111 107 107 111 111 109 110 105 105 106 106 106 105 ——————————————————————————————————— Seattle 110 106 108 111 113 112 115 109 109 110 108 106 103 ——————————————————————————————————— St. Louis 113 106 104 108 111 109 108 105 108 107 107 106 104 ——————————————————————————————————— Tampa 105 101 100 103 104 103 106 104 104 106 106 106 104 ——————————————————————————————————— Washington, D.C. 102 100 101 104 106 106 106 101 100 102 102 103 102 ——————————————————————————————————— *T
The March results of the Monster Local Employment Index will be released on April 19, 2007.
About the Monster Local Employment Index
Providing a broad, comprehensive monthly analysis of online job demand in the top 28 U.S. metro markets, the Monster Local Employment Index is an extension of the national Monster Employment Index, which is compiled each month by researchers at Monster Worldwide, Inc. (NASDAQ: MNST), parent company of the leading global online career and recruitment resource, Monster(R). Based on a real-time review of millions of employer job opportunities culled from more than 1,500 Web sites, including Monster(R), the Monster Local Employment Index presents a snapshot of employer online recruitment activity in the top 28 U.S. markets with the largest working populations.
The Index counts job postings as an indicator of employer demand for employees or, in other words, job availability. Job postings are online advertisements placed by an employer looking to fill one or more vacant, or recently created, job positions. All of the data and findings have been validated for accuracy through independent, monthly third party auditing conducted by ARC Research of Cranford, New Jersey. Individual Index reports containing data for each of the 28 metro markets, as well as additional information on occupational demand in each area, are now available at http://LocaleIndex.monsterworldwide.com.
About Monster Worldwide
Monster Worldwide, Inc. (NASDAQ: MNST) parent company of Monster(R), the premier global online employment solution for more than a decade, strives to bring people together to advance their lives. With a local presence in key markets in North America, Europe, and Asia, Monster works for everyone by connecting employers with quality job seekers at all levels and by providing personalized career advice to consumers globally. Through online media sites and services, Monster delivers vast, highly targeted audiences to advertisers. Monster Worldwide is a member of the S&P 500 Index and the NASDAQ 100. To learn more about Monster's industry-leading products and services, visit www.monster.com. More information about Monster Worldwide is available at www.monsterworldwide.com.
Special Note: Safe Harbor Statement Under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995: Except for historical information contained herein, the statements made in this release constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Such forward-looking statements involve certain risks and uncertainties, including statements regarding Monster Worldwide, Inc.'s strategic direction, prospects and future results. Certain factors, including factors outside of Monster Worldwide's control, may cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in the forward- looking statements, including economic and other conditions in the markets in which Monster Worldwide operates, risks associated with acquisitions, competition, seasonality and the other risks discussed in Monster Worldwide's Form 10-K and other filings made with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
