Online Job Demand Rises or Holds Steady in 15 of T
New York, NY, February 23, 2006—According to to the latest findings of the Monster Local Employment Index, online job availability increased or held steady in more than half of the top 28 U.S. metropolitan areas in January, as online recruitment activity picked up in the month following December's brief, seasonal slowdown.
During the past month, 15 of the top 28 metro markets tracked by the Index either saw a solid-to-moderate rise in online job demand, or remained unchanged from their December levels. Online job availability increased in eight markets, with Denver, Detroit, Pittsburgh, St. Louis and Tampa all rising two points; and Orlando, Philadelphia and Seattle each edging up a point. Many of the markets that rose in January saw higher demand for legal; management; transportation and material moving; and installation, maintenance and repair occupations. Overall online job demand for workers in Cincinnati, Cleveland, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, Minneapolis and Washington, D.C. remained essentially unchanged from December 2005.
In contrast, seven markets including Atlanta, Boston and Sacramento dipped slightly during January, edging down a point, while five others--Baltimore, Chicago, Dallas, New York City and San Diego--registered declines of two points each. After holding steady in November and December, Indianapolis showed the sharpest retraction last month, dropping three points due in part to lower overall demand for white-collar workers.
Since the inception of the Index in May of 2005, Phoenix continues to show the highest rate of growth in online job demand of the 28 markets, followed by Seattle, Denver and Minneapolis. Only Cleveland and Chicago remain down slightly from their May 2005 levels.
"The January findings of the Monster Local Employment Index show that eight major U.S. markets rebounded from a seasonal slowdown in recruitment in December, indicating increased online hiring activity due to higher demand for workers," said Steve Pogorzelski, Group President, International at Monster Worldwide. "The national Index findings for January were clearly consistent with other labor and economic indicators pointing to solid employment growth at the outset of 2006, so overall, this year's labor market appears to be off to another strong start."
During January, stronger online demand for workers in transportation and material moving was seen in all eight of the markets that rose. Online job availability in the category edged higher in Denver, Detroit, Orlando and St. Louis, while Houston continued to show the highest rate of increase since the inception of the Index, likely due to strong demand for regional moving and relocation services following Hurricane Katrina.
Nineteen metro areas showed increased online demand for management occupations last month, with six markets registering three-point surges: Miami, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Seattle, St. Louis and Tampa. The overall tightening in demand for white-collar professionals is consistent with other employment outlook surveys indicating that job seekers believe the job market in January 2006 is stronger than a year ago.
Online opportunities for installation, maintenance, and repair occupations also increased during the month, rising in nineteen metro areas, with Phoenix, Portland and Seattle all showing the greatest rate of increase since May 2005, likely due to the boom in residential construction in those markets during the past year. All Florida metro areas tracked by the Index also showed a surge in online opportunities for this category, which suggests a tightening in demand for Hurricane Wilma-related repair workers.
A majority of the 28 metro markets also saw higher demand for legal occupations in January, with all 28 showing increased online job availability for lawyers and related legal workers compared to six months ago.
