New York, NY, September 19, 2006--Online job opportunities in education, training, and library occupations rise or hold steady in all 28 markets with particular strength in Portland, Seattle and San Diego.
Twenty-six markets registered increased online job availability for management occupations, with Cincinnati showing the greatest year-over-year growth Online job availability rose in a majority of the largest U.S. metropolitan areas during August, as the back-to-work, back-to-school season helped drive increased online recruitment activity in 25 of the top 28 markets tracked by the Monster Local Employment Index.
Portland and San Diego registered the largest rate of month-to-month increase in August, as both markets jumped eight points amid higher demand for education, community, food services and construction workers. Rebounding from a two-month seasonal slump, the Boston market also saw a sharp rise of seven points fueled by a greater number of online job openings in research and creative positions, while Seattle resumed its strong upward growth trend since the beginning of the year, gaining six points.
Meanwhile, Houston saw a solid rise of three points last month and now tops the list of fastest growing online recruitment markets over the past year, with strong growth in demand for white- and blue-collar workers alike, likely driven by explosive growth in the local energy sector. The West Coast markets of San Diego, Portland and Seattle are now the second, third and fourth fastest growing, while Phoenix, the long-time growth leader on a year-over year basis, occupies the fifth spot.
The Index also measured stronger-than-average up-ticks in online job demand in the Baltimore and Washington, D.C. metro areas, with both rising five points during August and showing improved year-over-year growth rates that signal accelerated online recruitment in the capital region heading into the fall season.
Defying the national trend, online job availability in the Los Angeles market dipped three points in August, due to softened demand for technically skilled labor in occupations such as IT, engineering and military specific. Cincinnati dipped one point, while Indianapolis held steady from the previous month.
Online job opportunities in education, training, and library occupations rose or held steady in all 28 markets in August, with Portland, Seattle and San Diego showing significant strength in demand for workers in the category. All but two of the 28 markets also registered increased online job availability for management occupations, with Cincinnati remaining the top growth market year over year. Among all the occupational categories tracked by the Index, food preparation and serving occupations have now seen the fastest rate of increase over the year for the 28 markets combined.
"The Monster Local Employment Index findings for August reiterate the same strong rebound in online job availability that the national Index measured earlier this month and point to broadly higher demand for white collar and blue collar occupations at the start of the back-to-work, back-to-school season," said Steve Pogorzelski, Group President, International at Monster Worldwide. "In addition to overall stepped-up recruitment activity for workers in academic, management and food-related positions last month, the local Index showed continued strong demand for military, security and defense-related occupations, as well as non-profit positions in community and social services. Other market-specific hot pockets include transportation and manufacturing in Houston, IT in Kansas City, entertainment in Orlando, healthcare in Phoenix, and construction in Seattle."
