- November increase in job demand offsets October’s drop of 83,200
- Job demand has averaged a modest increase of 32,000 per month since the low point in April 2009
- Occupations: Healthcare support occupations stand out as an occupation group in continued demand throughout the recession
Online advertised vacancies rose by 106,500 to 3,386,000 in November, according to The Conference Board Help-Wanted OnLine Data Series (HWOL)™.
Online labor demand has been modestly positive since the low point in April 2009, with average monthly increases of about 32,000. In November, there were 2.2 advertised vacancies for every 100 people in the labor force - a slight rise since October (2.1 advertised vacancies per 100).
“Since April, when labor demand bottomed, monthly gains can only be described as sluggish,” said Gad Levanon, Senior Economist at The Conference Board. “We have yet to see a significant increase in employers’ demand for labor, and, until we see job openings pick up, it will be hard to bring down the unemployment rate. The gap between the number of unemployed and the number of advertised vacancies is about 12.3 million, with 4.8 unemployed for every online advertised vacancy.”
Regional and State Highlights
- Trend in labor demand is flat in the larger states in the West and Mid-West
- Along the east coast, several large states show a modest upward trend in labor demand, including NY, NJ, GA, NC, VA, MD
In the South, November online advertised vacancies rose by 6,100, reflecting increases in all of the most populous Southern states except Virginia and Maryland. Florida gained 10,300 and Texas was up 10,000 with both States offsetting their October declines. Georgia and North Carolina gained 4,200 and 1,600, respectively, to continue this year’s upward trends. Virginia lost 4,700, and Maryland fell by 2,100. Among the less populous states in the South, in November Kentucky decreased by 600, Louisiana decreased by a modest 100, and advertised vacancies in Oklahoma increased by a modest 100.
The Northeast was the region with the largest increase in November, up 31,700, with advertised vacancies up in all of the larger states. Massachusetts posted the largest increase, up 16,000 to 118,300, in November. New York increased by 10,400 to 232,200. Online job demand in Pennsylvania, which has been relatively flat since April 2009, rose by 4,300 in November. New Jersey rose slightly by 1,000 to 127,200. Among the states with smaller populations, in November Connecticut increased by 1,900, Maine decreased by 1,000, and Rhode Island decreased by 900. New Hampshire decreased by 600, and Vermont decreased modestly (400).
The West, the region with the second largest November gain, was up 30,000. California rose 24,600 in November and offset its September and October declines. Arizona gained 3,200 in November to just about offset its October loss, while Washington gained 2,600 and Colorado dropped 2,600. Among the states with smaller populations, Hawaii fell 2,700.
In the Midwest, Illinois gained 7,500 in November and about offset its September and October losses. Ohio gained 1,100 in November, and Missouri gained a mere 800.
The Supply/Demand rate for the U.S. in October (the latest month for which unemployment numbers are available) was at 4.79, up slightly from 4.50 in September and indicating that there are now 4.79 unemployed workers for every online advertised vacancy. Among the states, the highest Supply/Demand rate continues to be in Michigan (10.48), where there are nearly 11 unemployed people for every advertised vacancy. Other states where there are over 6 unemployed for every advertised vacancy are Kentucky (7.82), Mississippi (7.70), Indiana (6.41), California (6.33), Florida (6.27), Illinois (6.13), and Ohio (6.05). States with some of the lowest rates include Nebraska (1.69), Alaska (1.81), and South Dakota (1.83)
It should be noted that the Supply/Demand rate only provides a measure of relative tightness of the individual state labor markets and does not suggest that the occupations of the unemployed directly align with the occupations of the advertised vacancies (see Occupational Highlights section).
OCCUPATIONAL HIGHLIGHTS
- Labor demand for Computer and Mathematical Science, Sales professions, and Business and Finance occupations rises in November
- Jobs for Healthcare Support occupations remained high throughout the recession, but in November the number of unemployed looking for work in this field escalated to 3 unemployed for every advertised vacancy
Among the top 10 occupation groups, Computer and Mathematical Science occupations posted the largest November gain, up 35,400. Job demand was up in a wide variety of computer and math functions including web developers, computer systems analysts, and computer software engineers. Sales professions, which experienced the largest October gain, 46,100, rose an additional 16,000 in November. Job demand was up in a wide variety of sales functions including retail sales workers, sales representatives (wholesale and manufacturing), and financial services sales agents. Business and Finance, which had increased 21,800 in October, increased another 13,200 in November and in large part reflected a continuing increased demand for management analysts.
Healthcare Practitioners and Technical occupations, the largest category in terms of volume, dropped 36,000 in November to 497,400. Labor demand for Healthcare Support occupations declined modestly in November, down 500 to 102,700. However, demand for Healthcare Support workers has remained relatively steady throughout the recession although the number of unemployed seeking work in this field has risen as the recession deepened. In October, the last month for which unemployment data are available, there were three unemployed for every advertised vacancy in healthcare support. Healthcare is a broad field, and the relative tightness of the labor market varies substantially from the higher-paying practitioner and technical jobs to the lower-paying support occupations. In October, the last month for which unemployment data are available, for every unemployed person looking for work in a practitioner or technical occupation, there were 3.7 advertised vacancies, and the average wage in these occupations is $32.64/hour. In contrast, the average wage for healthcare support occupations is $12.66/hour while the number of unemployed outnumbers advertised vacancies three to one.
Advertised vacancies in Management occupations were up 2,200 in November to 353,700. Individual occupations showing the largest increases included managers in finance and computer and information systems. The number of unemployed exceeds the number of advertised vacancies, and in October there were nearly three unemployed (2.68) for every online advertised vacancy in the management field.
Office and administrative support occupations dropped 4,800 in November to 329,600. Largely responsible was a decreased demand for executive secretaries and administrative assistants and receptionists and information clerks.
Supply/Demand rates indicated that, among the occupations with the largest number of online advertised vacancies, there is a significant difference in the number of unemployed seeking positions in these occupations. Among the top ten occupations advertised online, there were more vacancies than unemployed people seeking positions for Healthcare Practitioners (0.3) and Computer and Mathematical Science (0.4). On the other hand, in Sales and Related Occupations, there were four people seeking jobs in this field for every online advertised vacancy (4.0) and there were nearly six unemployed looking for work in Office and Administrative Support positions for every advertised opening (5.6).
METRO AREA HIGHLIGHTS
- Washington, DC, Salt Lake City, and Baltimore have the lowest Supply/Demand rates
- Online advertised vacancies in Atlanta and Riverside rose since last year
- Online advertised vacancies in Washington, DC are at last year’s levels
In November, 49 of the 52 metropolitan areas for which data are reported separately posted over-the-year decreases in the number of online advertised vacancies. The two exceptions are Atlanta, with 66,500 vacancies, which gained 4,500 vacancies, and Riverside, CA, with 24,100, which gained 800. Among the three metro areas with the largest numbers of advertised vacancies, the New York metro area was 4 percent below its November 2008 level and the Los Angeles metro area was about 12 percent below its November 2008 level
The number of unemployed exceeded the number of advertised vacancies in all of the 52 metro areas for which information is reported separately. Washington, D.C., Salt Lake City, and Baltimore were the locations with the most favorable supply/demand rates, where the number of unemployed looking for work was only slightly larger than the number of advertised vacancies. On the other hand, metro areas in which the respective number of unemployed is substantially above the number of online advertised vacancies include Detroit, MI, where there are nearly 12 unemployed people for every advertised vacancy (11.9), Riverside (10.3), Miami (6.5), Los Angeles (5.5), Sacramento (5.5), Louisville (5.1), and Memphis (5.1).
