Employment Activity Drops Sharply in December
CareerCast.com/JobSerf Employment Index
December 2011
As the holiday bustle rose in December, hiring levels fell 8.4 points, according to the CareerCast.com/JobSerf Employment Index. This seasonal decline landed the employment index at 95.1 in December and -4.8 points behind activity levels of last December. The overall index is still trending positively as managerial hiring activity is nearly 30 points higher than it was in December, 2008.
How do we determine these numbers?
The CareerCast.com/JobSerf 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 95.1 for December 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. The CareerCast.com / JobSerf Index is lower at 95.1 than it was in December of 2007.
- USA Hiring Index Table, Jan 2008 - December 2011:
| Index Month | Index Score | Monthly Change |
|---|---|---|
| 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 |
Although the drop in job activity across the country seems to match with historically slow hiring levels in December, the index hit its lowest level in 18-months to 95.1. This drop could be a result of the prolonged budget discussion by Congress, which had a direct effect on Federal hiring.
Year-over-year hiring is still trending much higher with a gain of 21.2 points from 2009 and 28.9 in 2008. April saw the highest index level of 110.6 for 2011 and for the history of the CareerCast.com/JobSerf Employment report.
Continue to the December 2011 Job Title Hiring Report