Monster Employment Index Shows Online Job Demand Holding Strong

Most Industries, Occupations and Regions Up Sharply Compared to October 2003 -- Wholesale Trade, Construction and Utilities Among Industries Showing Greatest Increase in Online Job Availability -- Spike in Online Job Demand within Wholesale Trade Industry a Likely Precursor to Approaching Holiday Shopping Season --

Demand for workers and related online job recruitment activity across the United States remained strong in October, as the Monster Employment Index held steady, reporting relatively flat online job demand compared with September results, when the Index reached its highest level since its inception.

With a year of data collected, and in keeping with best practices, Monster Worldwide has officially re-scaled the Index using the first twelve months (from October 2003 to September 2004) as a new baseline. The newly re-scaled monthly historical numbers continue to accurately reflect the up and down movements over the past year, and moving forward, will serve as the Index’s basis of measurement.

According to the newly re-scaled baseline, the Monster Employment Index measured 114 in October, maintaining the same record level established in September. The Index’s October 2004 level stands in stark contrast to October 2003 when Index results stood at 93. Since that time, nearly every industry, occupation and region has shown steady year-over-year and stepwise growth that is indicative of sustained labor market expansion.

During the month of October, more than half of the 20 industries tracked by the Index saw increases of varying degrees in online job demand. Moreover, every industry except management of companies & enterprises was higher year-over-year. In October, wholesale trade, construction, utilities and accommodation & food services were among the industries that saw the greatest one-month increases.

The rise in demand within the wholesale trade industry could likely be a precursor to preparations for the holiday shopping season. Moreover, the rising demand in accommodation & food services is consistent with the broader recovery that the lodging industry has experienced in 2004 and projections that U.S. travel and tourism will continue to improve in 2005.

Manufacturing, retail trade and real estate also registered minor increases in October, while finance & insurance; information; professional services and administrative support remained essentially flat. The only industries that experienced slight declines during October were mining and public administration.

Online demand for workers increased slightly in 11 of 23 occupational categories in October. Business & financial operations registered its tenth month of sequential growth while the computer & mathematical occupations category, which captures the greatest number of IT-related positions, also continued a four-month upward trend. Management; architecture & engineering; and production all increased for the third consecutive month. Nearly every occupational category was up from a year ago.

The personal care & service, protective service and healthcare support categories (not healthcare practitioners) all saw sharp decreases during the month. Demand for sales occupations dipped slightly following a three-month growth trend.

With twelve months of data collected and a new baseline of measurement established, the Monster Employment Index has reached a new level of maturity, enabling us for the first time to compare year-over-year growth and historical trends, said Jeff Taylor, Founder and Chief Monster. As there was generally little significant up or down movement in most industries, occupations and regions, the Index was relatively flat in October but still remained at its peak. Overall, this demonstrates a continued strength in U.S. online job demand. You only have to look at where the Index is today versus a year ago to see clear evidence of a slow but steady expansion in the U.S. job market.

Online Job Demand Eases Back Slightly in Most U.S. Regions in October

Online job demand for workers eased back slightly in 8 out of the 9 U.S. Census Bureau regions in October. Nevertheless, every region remained close to its highest level based on a year-over-year comparison. The South Atlantic region, which includes Washington, D.C., Virginia, West Virginia, Delaware, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and Florida, was the only region that remained flat for the month, thanks to strong online job demand in Washington, D.C. and Florida.

Only 9 U.S. states registered increases during the month of October, with 7 of them notching two consecutive months of growth. These included Arizona, Florida, Kansas, Kentucky, Massachusetts, North Dakota and the District of Columbia. The remaining U.S. states either declined slightly or were flat. The District of Columbia and all 50 states, except Louisiana, are up year over year.

Based on online job demand in relation to total working population, the Monster Employment Index found the following states to be the top ten in terms of online job availability during the month of October:

1. Arizona

2. District of Columbia

3. Maryland

4. Delaware

5. Virginia

6. California

7. Massachusetts

8. Connecticut

9. New Jersey

10. Florida

California continued to offer the most online job availability of any state during the month of October based on sheer quantity alone.

The Monster Employment Index is a broad and comprehensive monthly analysis of U.S. online job demand conducted by Monster Worldwide, Inc. (NASDAQ:MNST), the parent company of the leading global online careers property, Monster(R). Based on a real-time review of millions of employer job opportunities culled from more than 1,500 Web sites, including a variety of corporate career sites, job boards and Monster, the Monster Employment Index presents a snapshot of employer online recruitment activity nationwide. The Index counts job postings as an indicator of employer demand for employees or, in other words, job availability. Job postings are online advertisements placed by an employer looking to fill one or more vacant job positions. The Monster Employment Index reports results on a monthly basis.

All of the data and findings in the Monster Employment Index have been validated for their accuracy through independent, third party auditing conducted on a monthly basis by ARC Research, a Cranford, New Jersey-based provider of innovative click and brick market research solutions. The audit validates the accuracy of the online job recruitment activity measured for the last six months within a margin of error of /- 1.05%.

Additional information on the Monster Employment Index, including all charts and tables, is available online at http://eIndex.monsterworldwide.com. Data for the month of November will be released on December 2, 2004.