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