Fourteen of 28 US Metro Markets See Decline in Online Job Demand in July

Detroit Metro Area Sees Greatest Month-to-Month Increase in Online Job Availability, According to Monster Local Employment Index



Online Demand for Military Occupations Increases Across Most Markets, Reflecting Stepped-Up Recruitment Efforts Demand for Production Workers Declines in Most Markets, Reflecting Broader Weakness in Manufacturing Online job recruitment activity and related employment opportunities declined in 14 of the top 28 U.S. metropolitan areas in July, according to the latest findings of the Monster Local Employment Index. Providing a broad, comprehensive monthly analysis of online job demand in the top 28 U.S. metro markets, the Monster Local Employment Index is an extension of the national Monster Employment Index, which is compiled each month by researchers at Monster Worldwide, Inc. (NASDAQ: MNST), parent company of the leading global online career and recruitment resource, Monster(R).

Individual Monster Local Employment Index reports containing July data for each of the 28 metro markets, as well as additional information on occupational demand in each area, are now available at http://LocaleIndex.monsterworldwide.com.

The Detroit metro area saw the greatest month-to-month increase in online job availability in July, rising three points and continuing a two-month growth trend. White-collar jobs within management; business and financial operations; and computer and mathematical occupations all saw strong growth in online job demand in the Detroit market, while production occupations remained flat.

Eight other markets edged higher in July, with four of them - Cincinnati, Minneapolis, Seattle and Washington, D.C. - seeing a rise in online job demand for the second consecutive month. Five markets - Boston, Chicago, Houston, Portland and St. Louis - remained unchanged in July from their June levels, while fourteen other markets saw declines of varying degrees during the month. Miami and Orlando experienced the sharpest declines in July, coming off sharp increases in June. Only Indianapolis showed a downward trend, declining for the second straight month.

The July findings of the Monster Local Employment Index show a decline in online job demand in half of the markets tracked by the Index, most likely reflecting a seasonal slowdown following the strong online hiring activity that took place in June, said Steve Pogorzelski, president of Monster, North America. However, the fact that nine markets saw online demand increase and five held steady during what is typically a slow month for hiring, speaks to the growing strength and stability of the broader U.S. job market, which added 207,000 new jobs in July and maintained an unemployment rate of just five percent.

Increased Online Demand for Military Occupations Across Most of the 28 U.S. Markets

Online demand for military specific occupations trended higher across most of the 28 markets tracked by the Index, reflecting stepped-up recruitment efforts on the part of the U.S. Army, Army National Guard, and U.S. Army Reserve to secure new enlistees.

In contrast, online demand for production occupations was down across most markets, reflecting continued weak demand for manufacturing workers. Construction and extraction occupation saw uneven demand across the 28 markets, suggesting that the strong pace of demand for construction workers during the first six months of 2005 may be beginning to slow down. Lastly, community and social services occupations saw growing online job availability in most markets, reflecting strong online recruitment within the non-profit sector.