“The March findings of the Monster Local Employment Index illustrate a solid pick-up in online recruiting in major U.S. cities in the final month of the first quarter,” said Steve Pogorzelski, Group President, International at Monster Worldwide. “Many of these same metro areas have recently seen their unemployment rates dip lower, suggesting a further tightening in their respective labor markets. However, according to recent U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), a majority of top U.S. cities are also experiencing a deceleration in job creation, providing further evidence that the broader U.S. labor market continues to show a more moderate growth pace compared to last year, while still exhibiting signs of underlying stability,” added Pogorzelski.
The St. Louis metro area rose for a second consecutive month in March, registering the largest monthly increase, posting an eight-point surge in online recruitment activity. As a result, St. Louis was the Index’s top growth market during the first quarter of 2007, and is second only to Houston in terms of year-over-year growth. Demand for business and financial operations; and office and administrative support positions in particular is higher in St. Louis than a year ago, as favorable business costs and high office vacancy rates continue to draw new businesses to the metro area. The service industry is also creating new job opportunities, with food preparation and serving; education, training and library; and community and social services occupations at the top of the fastest-growing occupations. These findings mirror recent reports from the BLS showing that the top industries for job growth in St. Louis include leisure and hospitality; and government.
Online recruitment activity in Los Angeles also rose sharply for the second consecutive month, fueled by greater demand for workers in healthcare and legal occupations. The five-point increase in March places the Index for Los Angeles at its highest annual growth pace since September 2006.
Los Angeles was the Index’s top growth market for healthcare practitioners and technical workers during the month of March and has seen the strongest rate of growth over the past year. Demand for healthcare support occupations has shown significant growth over the year as well. In recent months, online opportunities for legal occupations have picked up sharply in Los Angeles and elsewhere around the country, as some of the largest firms continue to accelerate their recruitment of summer associates amid a shrinking pool of law school talent. Online opportunities in personal care and services also expanded in the L.A. area in March, while the sales related category remains remarkably flat over the year.
Houston remains by far the fastest-growing metro area in terms of online job availability among the 28 markets tracked by the Index. The Index for Houston added four points in March, and now stands 19 points higher than a year ago. Protective service; food preparation and serving; and healthcare support occupations registered the largest gains in Houston between February and March. Over the past 12 months, construction and extraction has been among Houston’s top growth categories. Demand for workers in the category has been driven by the area’s rebounding energy sector, as well as strong demand for residential and commercial real estate amid solid population growth and continued post-Hurricane Katrina reconstruction. Opportunities for workers in office and administrative support have also risen sharply while military specific positions have declined compared to a year ago.
The Portland area also saw online job availability climb last month, largely due to a significant jump in demand for IT professionals. These findings mirror recent BLS data that show Portland’s information industry expanded at a pace well above the national average. Over the month, the protective services; food preparation and serving; and healthcare support occupational categories for Portland registered the largest increases.
Overall online job availability in Cincinnati declined between February and March, as lower demand in several occupational categories offset strong demand for IT workers. Business and financial operations; and education, training and library registered the sharpest decreases in online job availability. Despite the overall dip last month, the Cincinnati market has largely maintained its annual growth pace due to strong demand for workers in information technology, food services and public administration.
For the top 28 metro markets combined, the farming, fishing and forestry category increased the most, both month-to-month and year-over-year. Online opportunities for healthcare support positions also rose sharply. With the exception of business and financial operations, which remained flat, all other occupational categories edged up by varying degrees over the month. Online job availability in the architecture and engineering; and military-specific categories remains lower than a year ago.
