July 2011: U.S. Job Growth Declines Again

July 2011: U.S. Job Growth Declines Again

Author
CareerCast.com/JobSerf Employment Index

Hiring Activity Drops in July

The job market continues to struggle as employment activity dropped 2.1 points from June to July, according to the CareerCast.com/JobSerf Employment Index. The index fell to 98.2 points in July, which is the first time it has been below 100 points since last year. On the bright side, hiring activity is still 20 points ahead of levels seen in July, 2009.

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 98.2 for July 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 43 months, the CareerCast.com/JobSerf Index is lower at 98.2 than in July of 2007.

  • USA Hiring Index Table, Jan 2008 - July 2011:
Index Month Index Score Monthly Change
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

 

Summer continues to see sluggish hiring levels across the nation as the CareerCast.com/JobSerf Employment Index dropped 2.1 points to 98.2. While overall hiring is up 20-points from 2009, this July fell 8.7 points below employment levels for 2010. This is the first negative dip in year-over-year employment activity in 20-months.

Continue to the July 2011 Regional Hiring Report

Career Topics
Employment Trends