Job Growth Continues in April and reaches its highest level since 2008
CareerCast.com/JobSerf Employment Index
April 2011
April brought a small but meaningful increase in hiring activity nationally, with a gain of 1.1 points, the highest index level since January, 2008. The CareerCast.com/JobSerf Employment Index total for April is 110.6, which is 18.3 points above April of last year and 69.2 points above April 2009. The good news is that this trend shows that the hiring recovery is progressing and sustainable.
How do we determine these numbers?
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. What does an overall Index score of 110.6 for April 2011 mean? 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 40 months, the CareerCast.com/JobSerf Index is higher at 110.6 than in April of 2007
- USA Hiring Index Table, Jan 2008 - April 2011:
| Index Month | Index Score | Monthly Change |
|---|---|---|
| April 2011 | 110.6 | +1.1 |
| March 2011 | 109.5 | +5.2 |
| February 2011 | 104.3 | +0.6 |
| January 2011 | 103.7 | +3.8 |
| 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 |
2011 continues to see progress in employment activity with each month building upon the previous month’s gain. The month of April has produced extreme index scores from both ends of the spectrum, with the lowest index score (44.1 in April 2009) and the highest (110.6 April 2011) index score in the CareerCast.com/JobSerf records. The building trend bodes well as we head into the summer months.
Continue to the April 2011 Regional Hiring Report