Employment Activity Drops 15-points
CareerCast.com/JobSerf Employment Index
April 2012
After two months of positive employment gains, hiring across the U.S. fell hard in April, according to the CareerCast.com/JobSerf Employment Index. Employment activity plunged 15.6-points last month to end at 101.3. The overall index didn’t fare well year-over-year either, with a 9-point drop from April 2011. Fortunately, employment activity has still come a long way since April 2009.
“Even with this month’s losses in managerial recruitment, we are way ahead of where we were three years ago,” says Tony Lee, publisher, CareerCast.com. “The hope is that we're having a short-term blip on a path that will lead to greater job opportunities emerging through the year.”
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 101.3 for April 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 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. The CareerCast.com/JobSerf Index is higher at 101.3 than it was April of 2007.
- USA Hiring Index Table, Jan 2008 - Apr 2012:
| Index Month | Index Score | Monthly Change |
|---|---|---|
| April 2012 | 101.3 | -15.3 |
| March 2012 | 116.9 | +12.0 |
| February 2012 | 107.0 | +12.0 |
| January 2012 | 95.0 | -0.1 |
| December 2011 | 95.1 | -8.4 |
| November 2011 | 103.5 | -0.9 |
| October 2011 | 104.4 | +1.9 |
| September 2011 | 102.6 | -5.0 |
| August 2011 | 107.6 | +9.4 |
| July 2011 | 98.2 | -2.1 |
| June 2011 | 100.3 | -0.2 |
| May 2011 | 100.5 | -10.1 |
| 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 |
With a 21.9-point gain from January to March, hiring levels seem to be leveling out. Across the U.S., both the Index and the Per Capita hiring levels fell from last month.
Continue to the April 2012 Regional Hiring Report