Monster Worldwide Launches Monster Local Employment Index with Release of Inaugural Findings

New York - Online job recruitment activity and related employment opportunities in all but two of the top 28 U.S. metropolitan areas increased or remained strong in June, according to the inaugural findings of the newly introduced 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), the parent company of the leading global online careers property, Monster.



We established the Monster Local Employment Index to provide government officials, customers, economists and other labor market watchers at the local level with greater insight into online recruitment activity and hiring trends in their respective areas, said Steve Pogorzelski, president of Monster, North America. Just as the monthly Monster Employment Index findings inform on what is happening in online recruitment on a national level, the Monster Local Employment Index is designed to contribute a clearer understanding of online hiring activity in key metro markets across the U.S.

With the first two months serving as a baseline of 100, the Monster Local Employment Index found that online job demand rose in half of the top 28 metro markets in June, with Orlando, Denver and Miami registering the strongest increases in online job availability compared to May. Orlando outpaced all other markets with an eight point increase, while Miami and Denver each rose a total of four points. Twelve metro markets were flat from May to June, while only two, Chicago and Indianapolis, saw slight declines. Results for the top 28 U.S. metro markets over the past two months are as follows:

Market Jun. 05 May 05
Atlanta 100 100
Baltimore 101 99
Boston 100 100
Chicago 99 101
Cincinnati 101 99
Cleveland 100 100
Dallas 100 100
Denver 102 98
Detroit 101 99
Houston 100 100
Indianapolis 99 101
Kansas City 100 100
Los Angeles 101 99
Miami 102 98
Minneapolis 101 99
New York City 100 100
Orlando 104 96
Philadelphia 101 99
Phoenix 100 100
Pittsburgh 100 100
Portland 100 100
Sacramento 101 99
San Diego 101 99
Seattle 101 99
San Francisco 101 99
St. Louis 100 100
Tampa Bay 100 100
Washington D.C. 101 99

Monster Local Employment Index reports for each of the top 28 metro markets, containing additional information on occupational demand in each area, are available at http://eIndex.monsterworldwide.com. Data for the July results of the national Monster Employment Index will be released on August 4, 2005; data for the July results of the Monster Local Employment Index will be released on August 18, 2005.