US Online Job Market grows 0.9% in May 2012

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 well as the aftermath of the domestic recession still hamper growth. In addition the upcoming debate about deficit reductions and the debt ceiling is likely to have a dampening effect on employer confidence.

United States Job Openings (Online Postings) and Unemployment Rate
January 2007 – May 2012

Labor demand peaked at the beginning of May and began a decline with the third week of the month. While last year the number of posted positions stayed above 2.5 million during the summer, this year the job market may be weaker.

United States Job Openings (Online Postings)
Weekly, 2011-2012

Note: A weekly update on the United States Job Openings (Online Postings) is available on this blog every Tuesday.

Legend for week-over-week change of labor demand:

flat	0%
slow	0.1% – 0.5%
moderate	0.6% – 1.5%
fast	> 1.5%

Methodology: SkillPROOF surveys the inventories of job openings at direct employers. Job openings are counted and verified every 24 hours. All data sources have been verified for timely removal of filled or closed positions. No data from job boards or search firms is included.

For this report SkillPROOF estimates the counts of job openings. Estimates are calculated directly from SkillPROOF’s actual daily counts of job openings. As part of its calculations, SkillPROOF uses data and findings from reports of the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) (http://www.bls.gov).

Comment by Henning Seip on May 31, 2012 at 9:32am: ADP: Employment in the U.S. nonfarm private business sector increased by 133,000 from April to May on a seasonally adjusted basis. More: www.adpemploymentreport.com

Comment by Henning Seip on June 1, 2012 at 10:02am: Nonfarm payroll employment changed little in May (+69,000), and the unemployment rate was essentially unchanged at 8.2 percent. More: www.bls.gov

Comment by Henning Seip on June 5, 2012 at 11:26am: Update: US Online Job Market, May 2012, Week 5: Labor Demand down 0.2%

The drop in labor demand began to ease over the last two weeks. Employers posted 0.2% fewer openings during the last week of May as compared to the week before. The emerging pattern feels eerily like a repeat of 2011.

http://www.skillproof.com/?p=2322

Comment by Henning Seip on June 12, 2012 at 8:40am: Update: US Online Job Market, June 2012, Week 1: Labor Demand up 0.5%

Online labor demand grew 0.5% during the first week of June moving the dial to the same position where it was a year ago. Labor demand remains flat with employers looking for direction where the economy is headed.

http://www.skillproof.com/?p=2330

Comment by Henning Seip on June 19, 2012 at 9:15am: Update: US Online Job Market, June 2012, Week 2: Labor Demand down 0.2%

Online labor demand remained virtually unchanged during the second week of June as compared to the week before. Employers posted 0.2% fewer job openings. Job postings are a measure of confidence of businesses expressing whether they feel their future business success will justify the added cost of more staff. Currently businesses remain cautious. With the arrival of summer no big changes should be expected before the fall.

http://www.skillproof.com/?p=2337

Comment by Henning Seip on June 26, 2012 at 9:04am: Update: US Online Job Market, June 2012, Week 3: Labor Demand down 0.9%

Online labor demand slowed again last week indicating less confidence of employers in the economy. Across the United States, employers posted 0.9% fewer job openings than the week before. Labor demand is now 1.0% below the same week last year. More: http://www.skillproof.com/?p=2348

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