"With the end of the year approaching, overall demand for seasonal workers, including temporary retail positions, looks to be limited," said Jesse Harriott, senior vice president and chief knowledge officer at Monster Worldwide. "The dim outlook for this year’s holiday shopping season appears to have helped to negate the typical seasonal hiring lift the Index has seen in past years. In fact, online opportunities for sales and related positions have been contracting over the past several months, with both the retail and wholesale trade segments showing weakness due to tightened consumer spending."
Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting Shows Slight Increase in Online Demand in November
Agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting was the only industry category to register an increase in online demand in November. Meanwhile, public administration continues to lead all industry sectors in annual growth for online recruitment activity, with an Index reading seven percent higher than a year ago. Although growth remains positive, the latest movement reflects a significant deceleration, likely a result of state and local government scaling back hiring activity at a time of heightened uncertainty regarding tax receipts and budgets.
In contrast, the professional, scientific, and technical services industry has continued to decline over the past three months, which is typically a strong hiring period for the sector, likely due in part to the widespread scarcity of venture capital and assorted financing options that, in past years, have fueled startups and investment-heavy projects in biotechnology, sustainable technology, and computing. At the same time, online demand in the real estate and rental and leasing industry reached a historical low in the Index, while finance and insurance nearly matched its historic low, reflecting ongoing turmoil in the housing and financial markets.
On a year-over-year basis, public administration remains the Index’s fastest growing industry category, followed closely by mining, which is showing five percent growth from a year ago and is the only other industry category showing an increase in demand over the year.
Online Job Opportunities for Protective Service; Food Preparation and Serving; and Farming, Fishing and Forestry Occupations Expand Slightly in November
Protective service occupations registered the highest rate of increase in November, followed closely by food preparation and serving; and farming, fishing and forestry. Although an increase in recruitment for food service workers in the month of November is rare, the nominal one point rise between October and November of this year suggests that employers may have erred too much on the side of caution in hiring during the early autumn months when they typically staff up for the holiday season.
In contrast, online demand for sales and related occupations has plunged in recent months and the category was last at this level in February 2004, weighed down by the depressed retail job market and further tightening in U.S. consumer spending. The management category also fell sharply for the second consecutive month, suggesting that the global economic slowdown has affected businesses at their cores, resulting in cut backs at even high-level positions.
On a year-over-year basis, healthcare practitioners and technical; and military specific remain the only large occupational categories, by volume of job postings, to exhibit annual growth in the Index.
Online Job Availability Falls in All Nine U.S. Census Bureau Regions in November
Online job demand fell in all nine U.S. Census Bureau regions in November, and all nine are down year-over-year, with the West South Central and East South Central regions registering the mildest annual contractions. By contrast, the Pacific region continues to be the worst performing region by monthly and annual growth rates, although the New England region has also lost considerable ground in recent months.
At the state level, online job demand fell in 45 of the 50 U.S. states plus the District of Columbia during November.
Online Job Demand Dips in 25 of the Top 28 Major U.S. Metro Markets
During November, Orlando was the only major metropolitan market to register a monthly increase in online recruitment activity. The increase, however, represents a marginal two-point rise from a historical Index low in October. Meanwhile, online recruitment in Houston was steady between October and November. Unlike Dallas, where recruitment activity has slowed considerably, Houston continues to exhibit demand for workers in a number of occupational categories that runs counter to national trends, most notably in the sales and related category.
For the first time since the Index’s inception, the most resilient major metropolitan market, Pittsburgh, registered a negative annual growth rate. Meanwhile, neighboring Philadelphia had the most rapid deceleration in annual growth rate among major metropolitan markets.
