After a poor performance last month, employment activity across the U.S. surged in March, increasing by 5% to finish at an overall Index score of 109.5. This is the best employment activity score the CareerCast.com/JobSerf Employment Index has measured since January 2008, and is a full 19.1 points above hiring levels during March of last year.
What does an overall Index score of 109.5 for March 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. Thanks to a strong performance this month, there were 2.5 times as many jobs in March as there were a year ago.
- Table of U.S. Hiring, Jan 2009 - Mar 2011:
| Index Month | Index Score | Monthly Change |
|---|---|---|
| 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 |
Regional hiring varied widely in March, with the Southeast and Northeast posting the biggest improvements as employment activity increased by 13.5 and 5 points, respectively. On the other hand, after finishing as the best U.S. region for job seekers last month, the Midwest saw employment activity decline by 11.7 points, or approximately 9%, in March. This decline forced the region back into second place behind the Northeast.
- Table of U.S. Hiring By Region, Jan 2008 - Mar 2011:
| Index Month | Northeast | Southeast | Midwest | Southwest | West |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| March 2011 | 123.1 | 109.0 | 113.2 | 105.5 | 87.9 |
| February 2011 | 118.1 | 95.5 | 124.9 | 106.1 | 85.3 |
| January 2011 | 114.3 | 90.7 | 112.1 | 117.3 | 87.4 |
| December 2010 | 106.7 | 97.0 | 104.6 | 100.2 | 82.2 |
| November 2010 | 100.4 | 100.1 | 103.6 | 112.6 | 91.6 |
| October 2010 | 108.8 | 89.6 | 98.2 | 102.4 | 80.6 |
| September 2010 | 102.0 | 91.8 | 102.0 | 103.9 | 84.8 |
| August 2010 | 108.8 | 95.6 | 106.4 | 105.2 | 84.3 |
| July 2010 | 111.7 | 100.6 | 101.9 | 103.5 | 88.6 |
| June 2010 | 108.9 | 100.1 | 97.0 | 100.4 | 79.7 |
| May 2010 | 98.6 | 89.2 | 89.4 | 102.9 | 77.5 |
| April 2010 | 99.7 | 87.3 | 91.3 | 94.9 | 74.5 |
| March 2010 | 94.1 | 85.6 | 86.3 | 97.5 | 71.3 |
| February 2010 | 94.3 | 79.4 | 95.8 | 88.6 | 70.9 |
| January 2010 | 85.0 | 66.4 | 76.8 | 84.8 | 63.6 |
| December 2009 | 84.8 | 76.0 | 75.1 | 79.3 | 67.6 |
| November 2009 | 84.5 | 74.7 | 68.2 | 77.7 | 69.5 |
| October 2009 | 78.0 | 66.6 | 62.1 | 73.7 | 63.8 |
| September 2009 | 75.6 | 69.1 | 65.1 | 75.4 | 64.5 |
| August 2009 | 92.0 | 83.3 | 80.4 | 86.3 | 73.7 |
| July 2009 | 87.5 | 80.3 | 72.4 | 88.1 | 75.0 |
| June 2009 | 68.6 | 64.4 | 60.9 | 69.4 | 55.9 |
| May 2009 | 67.0 | 61.8 | 53.1 | 66.9 | 51.7 |
| April 2009 | 46.0 | 42.5 | 40.4 | 47.5 | 40.1 |
| March 2009 | 48.1 | 45.8 | 39.0 | 51.6 | 45.2 |
| February 2009 | 51.7 | 50.4 | 46.6 | 54.4 | 50.5 |
| January 2009 | 66.0 | 58.5 | 56.6 | 70.8 | 62.6 |
| December 2008 | 69.7 | 69.9 | 59.8 | 71.8 | 66.3 |
| November 2008 | 81.1 | 76.8 | 72.7 | 81.6 | 78.3 |
| October 2008 | 75.1 | 71.5 | 71.1 | 79.0 | 75.2 |
| September 2008 | 87.0 | 82.9 | 86.8 | 97.8 | 93.3 |
| August 2008 | 109.0 | 102.5 | 105.8 | 115.2 | 109.4 |
| July 2008 | 106.6 | 96.4 | 107.7 | 111.1 | 96.3 |
| June 2008 | 108.0 | 101.2 | 100.4 | 111.7 | 103.0 |
| May 2008 | 100.0 | 97.2 | 92.2 | 103.8 | 97.0 |
| April 2008 | 98.3 | 92.3 | 96.7 | 99.6 | 95.5 |
| March 2008 | 115.2 | 113.1 | 108.3 | 119.3 | 107.7 |
| February 2008 | 114.5 | 105.0 | 133.6 | 117.3 | 105.3 |
| January 2008 | 101.2 | 94.6 | 103.3 | 113.5 | 100.3 |
Examining U.S. employment activity by job title, VP-level hiring continued to post gains after a strong performance in February. Demand for VP candidates increased by nine points in March, pushing the title into second place behind Manager-level hiring, which led all others as the most in-demand job title this month. On the other hand, demand for C-Suite candidates slid for the second straight month, finishing in third place with an Index score of 104.
- Table of U.S. Hiring by Job Title, Jan 2008 - Mar 2011:
| Index Month | C-Level | VP Level | Director Level | Manager Level |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| March 2011 | 104 | 113 | 95 | 118 |
| February 2011 | 106 | 104 | 97 | 109 |
| January 2011 | 111 | 79 | 105 | 108 |
| December 2010 | 71 | 97 | 95 | 108 |
| November 2010 | 72 | 113 | 104 | 110 |
| October 2010 | 81 | 114 | 98 | 100 |
| September 2010 | 76 | 114 | 98 | 100 |
| August 2010 | 86 | 115 | 101 | 103 |
| July 2010 | 104 | 105 | 105 | 109 |
| June 2010 | 77 | 86 | 90 | 98 |
| May 2010 | 75 | 88 | 84 | 94 |
| April 2010 | 76 | 88 | 91 | 97 |
| March 2010 | 68 | 89 | 87 | 96 |
| February 2010 | 70 | 77 | 80 | 89 |
| January 2010 | 60 | 48 | 83 | 71 |
| December 2009 | 57 | 68 | 80 | 74 |
| November 2009 | 57 | 68 | 81 | 73 |
| October 2009 | 62 | 65 | 77 | 64 |
| September 2009 | 63 | 63 | 76 | 66 |
| August 2009 | 90 | 75 | 88 | 75 |
| July 2009 | 81 | 66 | 85 | 77 |
| June 2009 | 74 | 52 | 66 | 57 |
| May 2009 | 65 | 50 | 63 | 53 |
| April 2009 | 31 | 31 | 48 | 42 |
| March 2009 | 22 | 33 | 50 | 47 |
| February 2009 | 28 | 37 | 56 | 52 |
| January 2009 | 38 | 38 | 75 | 63 |
| December 2008 | 35 | 48 | 74 | 71 |
| November 2008 | 47 | 56 | 86 | 82 |
| October 2008 | 58 | 74 | 81 | 71 |
| September 2008 | 82 | 81 | 91 | 88 |
| August 2008 | 81 | 100 | 107 | 110 |
| July 2008 | 78 | 82 | 111 | 102 |
| June 2008 | 110 | 87 | 109 | 101 |
| May 2008 | 123 | 83 | 102 | 91 |
| April 2008 | 105 | 87 | 98 | 92 |
| March 2008 | 102 | 108 | 111 | 110 |
| February 2008 | 117 | 122 | 110 | 104 |
| January 2008 | 111 | 84 | 107 | 99 |
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