March 2009 Index Highlights
- Index edged down 4 points in March, erasing the mild increase experienced in February
- Year-over-year, the Index is now down 29 percent, as hiring activity continues to decline
- Agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting demonstrated solid growth in March
- Accommodation/ food and retail trade saw slight gains, while demand fell in almost all other industry categories
- Demand for healthcare support occupations edged higher while healthcare practitioners and technical occupations fell, suggesting that new opportunities are shifting toward lower-wage support roles
- Online job opportunities declined in all regions except East-South Central, which remained flat in March
- All 28 major metro markets registered a decrease in offerings
Summary Overview
The Monster Employment Index fell 4 points in March, and is now down 29% year-overyear, indicating a continued deceleration in online recruitment activity at the end of the first quarter.
“The decline in U.S. online recruitment activity during March was a sober follow-up to February’s seasonal rise, as uncertainty in the future economic situation continued to keep employers on the sidelines of the hiring field,” said Jesse Harriott, Vice President of Research at Monster Worldwide. “While online hiring activity has clearly declined on an annual basis, some areas have been less affected than others, including healthcare and public administration.”
For the full report, please click on the link provided above.
MEI Local Reports
In addition to national, industry, occupation and regional data, the Monster Employment Index presents a snapshot of employer online recruitment activity in the 28 largest U.S. metro markets in terms of working population. The local results are broken down by occupation and are published at the same time as the national Index. Use the links below to see specific local market findings from the Index:
About the Monster Employment Index
Launched in April 2004 with data collected since October 2003, the Monster Employment Index is a broad and comprehensive monthly analysis of U.S. online job demand conducted by Monster Worldwide, Inc. Based on a real-time review of millions of employer job opportunities culled from a large, representative selection of online career outlets, including Monster®, the Monster Employment Index presents a snapshot of employer online recruitment activity nationwide. The Monster Employment Index’s underlying data is validated for accuracy by Research America, Inc. – an independent, third-party auditing firm – to ensure that measured online job recruitment activity is within a margin of error of +/- 1.05%. Data for the month of March will be released on April 2, 2008.