December 2010: In Holiday Lull, Employment Activity Declines 5%
December 2010: In Holiday Lull, Employment Activity Declines 5%
CareerCast.com/JobSerf Employment Index
December 2010
While the holiday season is typically a slow period for hiring, November saw a surprising lift in overall employment activity, jumping 9% for the month. In December, however, the job market has returned to form – overall employment activity in the U.S. fell 5.6% for the month to an Index score of 99.9. Though just 0.4 points above September’s score, the overall CareerCast.com/JobSerf Employment Index is still a full 26 points higher than it was in December of 2009, indicating a substantial job market recovery over the past year.
What does an overall Index score of 99.9 for December mean? The CareerCast.com/JobSerf Employment Index calculates the number of available managerial job openings each month by surveying a 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. The Index measures employment activity against a base score of 100, which represents the volume of job openings during the same period in 2007. A score higher than 100 means that there are more available jobs than in 2007, while one below 100 means that job seekers now have fewer opportunities available. Over the past 34 months, the CareerCast.com/JobSerf Index peaked in March 2008 with an index score of 109.3, or 9.3 points better than in March 2007. This month's score of 99.9, on the other hand, means that while employment activity has fallen back below 2007 levels for second time in the last three months.
- USA Hiring Index Table, Jan 2008 - Dec 2010:
| Index Month | Index Score | Monthly Change |
|---|---|---|
| December 2010 | 99.9 | -6.0 |
| November 2010 | 105.9 | +6.4 |
| October 2010 | 99.5 | -0.1 |
| September 2010 | 99.6 | -2.7 |
| August 2010 | 102.3 | -4.6 |
| July 2010 | 106.9 | +14.3 |
| June 2010 | 92.6 | +3.6 |
| May 2010 | 89.0 | -3.3 |
| April 2010 | 92.3 | +1.9 |
| March 2010 | 90.4 | +7.1 |
| February 2010 | 83.3 | +12.5 |
| January 2010 | 70.8 | -3.1 |
| December 2009 | 73.9 | +0.2 |
| November 2009 | 73.7 | +5.9 |
| October 2009 | 67.8 | -0.6 |
| September 2009 | 68.4 | -11.4 |
| August 2009 | 79.8 | +1.6 |
| July 2009 | 78.2 | +17.8 |
| June 2009 | 60.4 | +3.8 |
| May 2009 | 56.6 | +15.2 |
| April 2009 | 41.4 | -2.7 |
| March 2009 | 44.1 | -5.4 |
| February 2009 | 49.5 | -12.2 |
| January 2009 | 61.7 | -4.5 |
| December 2008 | 66.2 | -10.9 |
| November 2008 | 77.1 | +3.7 |
| October 2008 | 73.4 | -14.3 |
| September 2008 | 87.7 | -18.0 |
| August 2008 | 105.7 | +5.4 |
| July 2008 | 100.3 | -2.3 |
| June 2008 | 102.6 | +6.8 |
| May 2008 | 95.8 | +1.6 |
| April 2008 | 94.2 | -15.1 |
| March 2008 | 109.3 | +0.3 |
| February 2008 | 109.0 | +8.7 |
| January 2008 | 100.3 | +/-0 |
After reaching a high of 106.9 in July, employment activity declined steadily until November, when a sudden surge put hiring on pace to finish the 2010 at its highest point in over two years. Instead, December’s decline means that employment activity will once again finish below 2007 levels for the third year in a row. However, overall employment activity in the U.S. still grew by 29.1 points over the course of 2010, or more than 40%.
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Next Page: December Employment Activity by U.S. Region
December 2010: Employment Activity by U.S. Region
December 2010: Employment Activity by U.S. Region CareerCast.com Tue, 12/28/2010 - 20:49December 2010: Employment Activity by Job Title
December 2010: Employment Activity by Job Title CareerCast.com Tue, 12/28/2010 - 20:59December 2010: The 10 Best and Worst Cities to Find a Job
December 2010: The 10 Best and Worst Cities to Find a Job
While the Northeast as a whole saw employment activity improve in December, many of the region’s major cities didn’t fare as well. Washington, D.C. saw hiring decline by 19 points in December, one of the city’s worst performances of the year. That said, the nation’s capital remained the best U.S. city to find a job, a position it has held for the past three years. Also marking three years as one of the best cities to find a job is Boston, which held onto second place despite seeing employment activity fall 23 points to an Index score of 128.
Though every U.S. city in the top 10 suffered losses in employment activity in December, some still managed to gain ground for the month. With just a four point decline, Baltimore climbed past Atlanta to finish in fifth place overall, and Philadelphia overtook Cleveland to end the year as the 10 best city for finding a job. Last month marked Cleveland’s second appearance in the top 10 this year, but both times the city has quickly slid back down the rankings.
Want to know where the jobs are right now? Check out December, 2010’s 10 Best Cities for Finding a New Job:
| Rank | City | Score | Ranking Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Washington, D.C. | 167 | +/-0 |
| 2 | Boston, MA | 128 | +/-0 |
| 3 | San Francisco | 117 | +/-0 |
| 4 | Seattle | 100 | +/-0 |
| 5 | Baltimore | 91 | +1 |
| 6 | Atlanta | 83 | -1 |
| 7 | Chicago | 78 | +/-0 |
| 8 | New York | 77 | +/-0 |
| 9 | Denver | 71 | +/-0 |
| 10 | Philadelphia | 67 | +2 |
Next Page: December’s 10 Worst Cities to Find a Job
December 2010: The 10 Worst Cities to Find a Job
December 2010: The 10 Worst Cities to Find a JobWhile Washington, D.C., marked three years as the best city in America to find a job, December also saw Riverside, CA hit a less auspicious milestone. For 36 straight months, the city in southern California’s Inland Empire region has been stuck as the worst U.S. city to find a job. Riverside’s poor finish was bittersweet, however, as it was also the only city among all 30 metro areas measured by the CareerCast.com/JobSerf Employment Index to avoid posting a loss in December.
There were few changes among the 10 worst cities to find a job in December, as Memphis, Detroit, Tampa and Louisville rounded out the bottom five for the sixth month in a row. Finishing in 25th place was Cincinnati, which posted a 10 point loss for the month and fell from 21st place.
If you want to relocate but are worried about moving to a bad job market, take note of these metro areas, which make up December 2010’s 10 Worst Cities to Find a Job: