Online labor demand in the United States began its descent toward the end of the year. Employers posted 2.4% fewer job openings in November than in October. Employers struggled to maintain a decent level of labor demand this year. Cracks began to show in June when the market lost 3.0% of its volume. From there it was a slow slide towards election day. During the four weeks before the election posting volume increased indicating more optimism on the employer side (see weekly chart below).…

The US online job market is drifting along. In September, employers nationwide posted 0.6% fewer job openings than in August. Year-over-year demand is down 3.6%. This further confirms that employers keep sitting on their hands waiting for reasons to be more optimistic. The US payroll is growing incrementally, an indication that employers hire only when desperate. They are looking for more signs of consumption.

The Indicators for consumer confidence…

Labor demand dipped slightly in August as employers posted 0.2% fewer job opportunities compared to July. Now heading into the fall hiring season labor demand may increase again depending on how confident employers are about their economic future. We do not expect a boost in the coming months since significant uncertainties (presidential election, “fiscal cliff”, Europe’s debt struggles) influence the national economic mood.

Consumer…

Online labor continued to decline in July. Employers posted 1.4% fewer job openings than in June. Year-over-year the online job market declined 4.1%. The current number of posted job openings is 32.7% below peak demand in August 2007.

United States Job Openings (Online Postings) and Unemployment Rate

January 2007 – July 2012…

The weather is hot, the labor market is not. Employers around the country posted 3.0% fewer job openings in June as compared to May. So far this year, demand for workers is below the same period of last year. Labor demand depends on consumption which has not returned domestically nor internationally. In addition, employers now can do more with a smaller workforce thanks to information technology. Growth has to come from new products and services driven by innovation which requires…

As the month of May comes to a close it becomes clear that labor demand is already leveling off for the season. Employers posted only 0.9% more job openings in May as compared to April. With the onset of the summer the job market is likely to decline before getting a second possible chance for growth in the fall.

What we are seeing is a repeat of 2011 where a very similar pattern in labor demand emerged. The lingering economic issues in Europe as…

The job market made a significant push in April. The average daily number of posted job openings grew 7.1%, a rate last seen in April 2010. The job market made up for the slow growth in March when employers barely increased their labor demand. Nevertheless, the current need for more labor has not yet reached last years peak. We will learn over the next 30 days whether employers remain optimistic and continue to post more openings. In order to exceed last years peak the current job…

Online labor demand in March increased just 0.8% compared to February. Nevertheless, there was much movement in the market (see weekly chart below). Year-over-year online labor demand dropped 4.4%.

United States Job Openings (Online Postings)

January 2007 – March 2012…

Business as usual. This was the development of the online labor demand in February. The grow rate of 5.8% is consistent with average years at this time of the season. The number of online job postings was 1.3% below the level of February 2011. This suggests a grinding job market which slowly rebounds from the recession. Last year, US payroll grew by 1.8 million jobs despite natural disasters, rising energy prices and home made political problems. If last year’s labor demand is an…

Entering a new cycle, labor demand in January improved slightly (up 1.0%) compared to December. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics employers added 853,000 jobs to their payrolls in the second half of 2011. During this time online labor demand declined steadily suggesting that open positions were being closed due to the hires but not replaced with additional needs. With January showing already some improvement we expect labor demand to grow over the next months and hopefully exceed…

Labor demand at the end of 2011 was back where the year began. In fact, it was 1.9% below last January’s average. What started in 2010 with plenty of optimism ended in a four months decline. In December, employers removed another 4.6% of their job openings compared to November. Nevertheless, the US economy had gained 1.45 million jobs last year by the end of November.

United States Job Openings (Online Postings)

January…

Online labor demand dropped another 4.4% in the United States in November. Part of the decline is a seasonal adjustment which is common around this time of the year. This year it adds to the lackluster labor market making it even harder for the unemployed. Year-over-year demand is up only 1.8% leaving much to wish for during the holiday season.

United States Job Openings (Online Postings)…

Employers in the United States continue to be concerned about the state of the economy and consumption. Demand for labor accelerated to decline in October resulting in a drop of 4.4% for the month compared to September. Year-over-Year labor demand has increased only 4.4% which further underlines the poor condition of the job market.

United States Job Openings (Online Postings)

January 2007 -…

On job market display in September was the aftermath of much negative news from August. Despite feel-good-announcements like the one from Federated Department Stores, employers posted fewer job openings. Demand dropped 1.8% in September compared to August leaving little hope for improvements before the end of the year.

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There was not much movement in the US online job market in August. Employers remained undecided about the direction they want to go. The monthly average of job openings increased slightly (up 0.5%) in August as compared to July. The online labor demand was 13.2% higher than in August of last year.

United States Job Openings (Online Postings)

January 2007 - August 2011…

Chris Russell is a veteran of the job board industry. He owns a number of job boards under the umbrella of AllCountyJobs.com. Chris has a following on the Internet and people trust his advice, in short he is an industry expert.

In his recent blog post How to spot a good job board Chris describes 7 criteria of job boards worth using. His #1 criteria is: It looks…

Employers were sitting on the sidelines in July, at a time when emotions about the federal debt ceiling are running high in the country. The level of job openings posted online remained virtually unchanged (down 0.1%) in July compared to June.

United States Job Openings (Online Postings)

January 2007 - July 2011…

Online advertised demand for labor in the US fell 2.0% in June, the first decline since December. After a good start at the beginning of this year the job market is slowing now leaving little hope for more activity during the summer. This development is worse than a year ago when the job market leveled of during the same time. The difference is that growth rates last year, while small, remained positive.

United States Job Openings, January…

It is getting slower out there. Over the past four months, growth rates of US job postings have been on a slide downwards with the latest addition in May of only 2.1%. Employers posted a daily average of 2,600,000 job openings (estimate) during the last 30 days, just 55,000 more than in April. Four of the five largest metro area posted gains. Employers in the New York Metro area added just 1.0% while the Los Angeles job market remained virtually unchanged (down 0.4%).

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Spring is here as rising temperatures indicate. It's the time when optimism gets a boost and we look forward to summer fun. Unfortunately current developments in the job market cause some concern. While labor demand is still rising, the speed of growth is slowing. Employers in the US increased their online job postings by 3.1% in April as compared to March. Since February this is the third consecutive month of declining growth. While demand increased by 6.1% in February as compared to…