JobsInRIs State Employment Index

JobsInRI.com is one of the largest Internet job sites in the state. With more than 600 jobs being posted and just under 100,000 unique visits each month, we are in an advantageous position to monitor and report on the employment trends within the state. The JobsInRI.com Jobs Index is a monthly statistical summary of the data compiled.

The Index identifies key trends based on job openings posted, searches performed by job seekers and key metrics from the web site. Taken together, they offer a unique perspective into the key trends for employment in Rhode Island.

Job Trends:
The following are the significant trends for the month of October 2005:

The number of job openings during this month is 640 up from 555 in September

Customer Support jobs increased from 59 jobs in September to 116 jobs in October and Sales jobs also went up from 83 jobs in September to 146 jobs in October

A majority of the new job openings posted during October were in the counties of Providence (34% of all job openings), Kent (19%), and Washington (13%).

Job openings activity covered a number of job types:
Health Care (11.0% of all job openings)
Sales (10.6%)
Customer Support (8.4% up 3% from last month)
Banking (6.7%)
Manufacturing (6.6%)
Non-Profit (5.5%)
Clerical (5.4%)
Social Services (4.8%)
Retail/Wholesale (4.2%)

Twelve percent of the job openings were from companies with fewer than 50 employees

Companies with >500 employees accounted for 14% of the total

Companies with 101-250 employees had the most October job openings with 33% of the jobs.

Seventy-four percent of the job openings during October were for full-time positions, essentially the same as last month.

23% were part-time
3% were contract or per diem

Job Search Trends:
The following are the significant trends for the month of October 2005:

The number of qualified searches (job seeker used specific parameters to search for a position) was 31,583 ñ down slightly from September.

The top job categories searched by job seekers were:
Clerical (10.1% of all qualified searches)
Health Care (9.1%)
Customer Support (5.7%)
Advertising/Marketing (4.2%)
Accounting (4.1%)
Hotel/Restaurant (4.1%)
Banking/Finance (4.0%)
Arts (3.9%)
IT (3.9%)

Thirty-three percent of the qualified searches also contained a geographic preference:

Providence County (57% of qualified searches)
Kent County (16%)
Washington & Bristol counties (12%)
Bristol County (9%)

A majority of the job seekers prefer to look for positions within close proximity to their homes. The commuting preference for job seekers was:

1-30 miles - 62%
31-40 miles - 17%
40 miles - 21%

Web Site Trends:
JobsInRI.com had 96,257 unique visits for the month, up 3% from Septemberís 93k. We see average time per visit of about 8 minutes, still well above industry averages. During an average visit, a job seeker will download 5.9 pages.