October Hiring Growth Bucks Election Cycle Trends

October Hiring Growth Bucks Election Cycle Trends
CareerCast.com Tue, 10/23/2012 - 11:44
Author
CareerCast.com/JobSerf

 

Nationwide improvement in hiring was not significant enough last month to put a sizable dent in unemployment, but it did buck historic trends of job market tumult in past presidential election cycles, according to the latest JobSerf/CareerCast Employment Index.

“The Index heads into election day at a respectably strong level, though high unemployment still persists in many cities,” says JobSerf CEO Jay Martin. The U.S. unemployment rate fell to 7.8%, the lowest figure in over four years but still above pre-recession levels. The JobSerf/CareerCast Employment Index reflects a similar outlook of tempered positivity.

"Election cycles provide uncertainty for the hiring market, but this level of hiring is still strong,” says Martin. "The positive change from September to October is atypical as compared to other years, but is welcome.”

The index gained 1.8 points last October, but fell in every other October from 2008 through 2010. The 14.3-point drop in hiring in October 2008 was the second largest decrease in the past four years, and reflected the outset of the recession from which the job market is still recovering.

How do we determine these numbers?

The CareerCast.com/JobSerf Employment Index calculates the number of available managerial job openings each month by surveying wide range of local and national job boards across the U.S, with all results hand-counted and checked for duplication by a team of researchers. What does an overall Index score of 108.4 for October 2012 mean? The Index measures employment activity against a base score of 100, which represents the volume of job openings during the same period in 2008. A score higher than 100 means that there are more available jobs than in 2008, while one below 100 means that job seekers now have fewer opportunities available. Over the past 55 months, the CareerCast.com/JobSerf Index is higher at 108.4 than in October 2008.

October 2012 Employment by Region

October 2012 Employment by Region

Baltimore benefited the most from improved hiring this month, gaining 6% to reach its four-year watermark score of 105. The city’s hiring index is up 57 points since bottoming out in July 2009. Indianapolis had its second measurable improvement in as many months. Its hiring activity climbed 4%, now sitting 13 index points higher than a year ago. Indianapolis also made significant strides in September, part of an overall improvement for cities involved in auto manufacturing. The Midwest, epicenter for the automotive industry, increased hiring throughout the region by 6 index points.

Hiring gains in the state’s largest city have helped buoy overall improvement throughout Indiana which, according to the Indiana Department of Workforce Development, has had a 0.9% reduction in its unemployment rate over the past year.

Hit hard this month was Dallas. Hiring there dipped 8%, far-and-away the most significant drop nationally.

“Dallas, my hometown, has been hit by recent major layoff announcements or warnings from some its largest companies, including American Airlines, Hewlett Packard/EDS, Radio Shack and Lockheed,” Martin says.

Despite Dallas’ dramatic hiring decline, the Southwest region joined the Northeast, Midwest and Southeast with improved October figures. Only the West dropped.

Gains in the Southeast and Southwest were nominal – 0.9 and 1.7 index points, respectively – but the Northeast was up 10.3 points.

 

Index Month Northeast Southeast Midwest Southwest West
October 2012 105.8 93.3 106.4 109.9 79.3
September 2012 95.4 92.4 100.4 108.2 81.4
August 2012 103.9 99.0 104.5 113.2 83.6
July 2012 98.4 94.1 102.4 120.2 83.9
June 2012 100.2 95.8 101.7 112.5 82.3
May 2012 88.8 81.7 96.1 106.1 77.2
April 2012 97.8 96.0 99.4 109.0 80.7
March 2012 111.9 110.7 107.5 117.4 87.7
February 2012 109.8 96.4 114.0 109.6 80.9
January 2012 95.5 82.3 93.0 100.2 74.8
December 2011 95.8 88.0 92.5 95.8 73.7
November 2011 105.3 99.6 96.6 105.6 84.5
October 2011 105.7 95.2 98.6 103.3 80.7
September 2011 98.2 96.7 107.4 105.5 85.0
August 2011 108.3 100.6 112.0 109.5 86.9
July 2011 104.2 94.4 101.5 109.0 84.5
June 2011 103.6 95.2 99.3 102.1 81.3
May 2011 105.1 98.7 101.5 111.6 85.6
April 2011 120.3 106.4 120.7 122.1 93.1
March 2011 123.1 109.0 113.2 105.5 87.9
February 2011 118.1 95.5 124.9 106.1 85.3
January 2011 114.3 90.7 112.1 117.3 87.4
December 2010 106.7 97.0 104.6 100.2 82.2
November 2010 100.4 100.1 103.6 112.6 91.6
October 2010 108.8 89.6 98.2 102.4 80.6
September 2010 102.0 91.8 102.0 103.9 84.8
August 2010 108.8 95.6 106.4 105.2 84.3
July 2010 111.7 100.6 101.9 103.5 88.6
June 2010 108.9 100.1 97.0 100.4 79.7
May 2010 98.6 89.2 89.4 102.9 77.5
April 2010 99.7 87.3 91.3 94.9 74.5
March 2010 94.1 85.6 86.3 97.5 71.3
February 2010 94.3 79.4 95.8 88.6 70.9
January 2010 85.0 66.4 76.8 84.8 63.6
December 2009 84.8 76.0 75.1 79.3 67.6
November 2009 84.5 74.7 68.2 77.7 69.5
October 2009 78.0 66.6 62.1 73.7 63.8
September 2009 75.6 69.1 65.1 75.4 64.5
August 2009 92.0 83.3 80.4 86.3 73.7
July 2009 87.5 80.3 72.4 88.1 75.0
June 2009 68.6 64.4 60.9 69.4 55.9
May 2009 67.0 61.8 53.1 66.9 51.7
April 2009 46.0 42.5 40.4 47.5 40.1
March 2009 48.1 45.8 39.0 51.6 45.2
February 2009 51.7 50.4 46.6 54.4 50.5
January 2009 66.0 58.5 56.6 70.8 62.6
December 2008 69.7 69.9 59.8 71.8 66.3
November 2008 81.1 76.8 72.7 81.6 78.3
October 2008 75.1 71.5 71.1 79.0 75.2
September 2008 87.0 82.9 86.8 97.8 93.3
August 2008 109.0 102.5 105.8 115.2 109.4
July 2008 106.6 96.4 107.7 111.1 96.3
June 2008 108.0 101.2 100.4 111.7 103.0
May 2008 100.0 97.2 92.2 103.8 97.0
April 2008 98.3 92.3 96.7 99.6 95.5
March 2008 115.2 113.1 108.3 119.3 107.7
February 2008 114.5 105.0 133.6 117.3 105.3
January 2008 101.2 94.6 103.3 113.5 100.3


Continue reading for analysis of how individual job titles fared in October hiring.

CareerCast.com Tue, 10/23/2012 - 09:37

October 2012 Employment by Job Title

October 2012 Employment by Job Title

October hiring improved across all levels of managerial employment from last month. The most significant increase was in VP level employment, which swelled to 120 points to surpass its year-high of 118, reached in August.

Index Month C-Level VP Level Director Level Manager Level
October 2012 70 120 96 118
September 2012 65 107 92 115
August 2012 65 118 99 114
July 2012 59 104 94 114
June 2012 57 104 97 115
May 2012 54 100 91 108
April 2012 65 103 96 109
March 2012 60 119 104 133
February 2012 66 109 98 118
January 2012 65 86 92 104
December 2011 52 107 83 106
November 2011 71 97 95 108
October 2011 60 128 96 110
September 2011 66 104 94 113
August 2011 78 93 96 123
July 2011 66 85 91 111
June 2011 70 87 92 113
May 2011 62 93 87 116
April 2011 89 104 105 119
March 2011 104 113 95 118
February 2011 106 104 97 109
January 2011 111 79 105 108
December 2010 71 97 95 108
November 2010 72 113 104 110
October 2010 76 114 98 100
September 2010 81 114 99 99
August 2010 86 115 101 103
July 2010 104 105 105 109
June 2010 77 86 90 98
May 2010 75 88 84 94
April 2010 76 88 91 97
March 2010 68 89 87 96
February 2010 70 77 80 89
January 2010 60 48 83 71
December 2009 57 68 80 74
November 2009 57 68 81 73
October 2009 62 65 77 64
September 2009 63 63 76 66
August 2009 90 75 88 75
July 2009 81 66 85 77
June 2009 74 52 66 57
May 2009 65 50 63 53
April 2009 31 31 48 42
March 2009 22 33 50 47
February 2009 28 37 56 52
January 2009 38 38 75 63
December 2008 35 48 74 71
November 2008 47 56 86 82
October 2008 58 74 81 71
September 2008 82 81 91 88
August 2008 81 100 107 110
July 2008 78 82 111 102
June 2008 110 87 109 101
May 2008 123 83 102 91
April 2008 105 87 98 92
March 2008 102 108 111 110
February 2008 117 122 110 104
January 2008 111 84 107 99

 

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CareerCast.com Tue, 10/23/2012 - 09:53