New York, November 21, 2005 - Online job recruitment activity and related employment opportunities increased in 24 of the top 28 U.S. metropolitan areas in October, according to the latest findings of the Monster Local Employment Index. The broad rise in online job availability in major metro areas nationwide was largely driven by sharply higher demand for sales and sales-related positions in 26 of 28 markets, suggesting that the nation's retailers are actively staffing up for the fast-approaching holiday shopping season.
Despite recent hurricanes in the Southeast, higher energy prices and uncertainty regarding U.S. household spending intentions for the upcoming holiday season, the Index's findings indicate that employer demand for workers in the country's largest metropolitan areas remains strong. October saw growth in online job availability for a wide range of occupational categories, led by arts, design, entertainment, sports and media; IT positions and production jobs, which all showed solid increases across a majority of the markets tracked by the Index.
Demand for IT professionals rose in 23 local markets, demonstrating continued improvement in the job outlook for workers with technical skills, as the IT sector begins to add workers again, and improved company balance sheets have enabled many to resume investments in new technology and expand their IT support staffs.
Of the 28 markets, Dallas, Indianapolis, Phoenix, Portland, Sacramento and Tampa registered the sharpest increases in online job demand in October, with each rising three points over the previous month's level. Minneapolis and Seattle continued to demonstrate robust hiring environments, as both extended a five-month growth trend, while Phoenix continued to show the greatest rate of growth in online job availability among all markets since the inception of the Index.
"The broad rise of the Monster Local Employment Index in October extends a largely upward growth trend for a majority of major U.S. cities over the past six months, and suggests a steadily improving business climate nationwide, despite concerns over energy prices, inflation and consumer sentiment," said Steve Pogorzelski, Group President, International at Monster Worldwide. "With the Index showing strong employer demand for workers, including a sharply increased number of online opportunities for sales, IT and production workers in 20 or more of the markets we track, the fourth quarter hiring climate is clearly off to a very strong start."
In another encouraging development, Dallas and Houston, which had previously remained unchanged since May, showed their first signs of growth during the past month, likely spurred by the ramping up of hurricane-related reconstruction efforts. Only Cleveland and Orlando showed slight declines in online job demand. Cincinnati and Miami were the only two markets that remained unchanged from September.
All but two markets showed increased online job availability for sales and related occupations in October (Cleveland and Orlando were unchanged), which is likely due in part to seasonal hiring activity as wholesalers and retailers typically expand their sales force (as well as stockroom, shipping, inventory staff) in preparation for the holiday shopping season. Sales and related was the occupational category with the largest volume of job postings for most markets, with Denver registering the sharpest rise (a seven-point surge) among all 28 markets.
Twenty-five of the 28 markets saw a boost in online demand for arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media occupations, led by Cincinnati, Detroit and Houston. This surge in demand is likely due to a number of factors including playhouses, museums and movie theaters adding staff for the busy holiday entertainment season; design and marketing firms staffing up for seasonal advertising campaigns and anticipated new business wins; the return of the NHL to cities across the country; and the start of the NBA basketball season - all of which have contributed to creating greater demand for workers to fill support positions. Online job availability for production workers also increased in 20 markets, with Seattle, Boston and Denver topping the list in terms of growth.
Overall results for the top 28 U.S. metro markets over the past six months are as follows:
Market OCT 05 SEPT 05 AUG 05 JUL 05 JUN 05 MAY 05
Atlanta 106 104 103 101 100 100
Baltimore 105 103 101 100 101 99
Boston 105 104 101 100 100 100
Chicago 104 102 100 99 99 101
Cincinnati 106 106 104 102 101 99
Cleveland 101 103 102 99 100 100
Dallas 103 100 100 99 100 100
Denver 107 106 104 101 102 98
Detroit 108 107 103 104 101 99
Houston 102 100 100 100 100 100
Indianapolis 104 101 100 98 99 101
Kansas City 103 102 101 101 100 100
Los Angeles 105 103 102 100 101 99
Miami 103 103 101 98 102 98
Minneapolis 108 107 106 102 101 99
New York City 103 102 102 99 100 100
Orlando 98 100 100 99 104 96
Philadelphia 104 102 101 100 101 99
Phoenix 109 106 104 101 100 100
Pittsburgh 106 104 103 101 100 100
Portland 107 104 103 100 100 100
Sacramento 104 101 101 99 101 99
San Diego 108 106 104 100 101 99
San Francisco 105 103 102 100 101 99
Seattle 108 107 106 102 101 99
St. Louis 104 102 101 100 100 100
Tampa 105 102 102 99 100 100
Washington, D.C. 105 103 102 102 101 99
The November results of the Monster Local Employment Index will be released on December 15, 2005.
About the Monster Local Employment Index
Providing a broad, comprehensive monthly analysis of online job demand in the top 28 U.S. metro markets, the Monster Local Employment Index is an extension of the national Monster Employment Index, which is compiled each month by researchers at Monster Worldwide, Inc. (NASDAQ: MNST), parent company of the leading global online career and recruitment resource, Monster ®. Based on a real-time review of millions of employer job opportunities culled from more than 1,500 Web sites, including Monster ®, the Monster Local Employment Index presents a snapshot of employer online recruitment activity in the top 28 U.S. markets with the largest working populations.
The Index counts job postings as an indicator of employer demand for employees or, in other words, job availability. Job postings are online advertisements placed by an employer looking to fill one or more vacant, or recently created, job positions. All of the data and findings have been validated for accuracy through independent, monthly third party auditing conducted by ARC Research of Cranford, New Jersey. Individual Index reports containing September data for each of the 28 metro markets, as well as additional information on occupational demand in each area, are now available at http://LocaleIndex.monsterworldwide.com.
About Monster Worldwide
Founded in 1967, Monster Worldwide, Inc. is the parent company of Monster ®, the leading global online careers and recruitment resource. The company also owns TMP Worldwide, one of the world's largest Recruitment Advertising agency networks. Headquartered in New York with approximately 4,800 employees in 26 countries, Monster Worldwide (NASDAQ: MNST) is a member of the S&P 500 Index. More information about Monster Worldwide is available at www.monsterworldwide.com.
About Monster
Monster ® is the leading global online careers and recruitment resource. A division of Monster Worldwide, Monster was founded in 1994 and is headquartered in Maynard, Massachusetts, USA. Monster has 26 local language and content sites in 24 countries worldwide. Monster is known for connecting quality job seekers at all levels with leading employers across all industries and offers employers innovative technology and superior services that give them more control over the recruiting process. More information is available at www.monster.com or by calling 1-800-MONSTER. To learn more about Monster's industry-leading employer products and services, please visit http://recruiter.monster.com.
Special Note: Safe Harbor Statement Under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995: Except for historical information contained herein, the statements made in this release constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Such forward-looking statements involve certain risks and uncertainties, including statements regarding Monster Worldwide, Inc.'s strategic direction, prospects and future results. Certain factors, including factors outside of Monster Worldwide's control, June cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in the forward- looking statements, including economic and other conditions in the markets in which Monster Worldwide operates, risks associated with acquisitions, competition, seasonality and the other risks discussed in Monster Worldwide's Form 10-K and other filings made with the Securities and Exchange Commission, which discussions are incorporated in this release by reference.
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