Simply Hired®, the world’s most comprehensive job site, today released its September 2012 Employment Outlook and infographic, reporting a 1.7 percent decrease in nationwide job openings month-over-month. The decline is the first in four months; however, year-over-year job openings remain positive with a 2.5 percent increase. Nationwide job competition held steady at a ratio of three unemployed persons for every one job opening. The September 2012 Employment Outlook highlights the job industry and employer trends in national and regional U.S. markets.
“After three continuous months of job opening growth, nationwide job openings decreased slightly in August yet still held positive compared to this time last year,” said Gautam Godhwani, co-founder and CEO of Simply Hired. “A bright spot in this month’s job openings is retail, as companies across the nation begin to ramp up for the holiday buying season and get seasonal hiring underway.”
Hiring slows in majority of major metros
While no metro area showed a double digit change month-over-month, job openings did decrease in 31 out of the top 50 major metros. Memphis (-7.0%) and Tampa & St. Petersburg (-6.1%) saw the largest losses, but remained positive year-over-year, while Minneapolis (3.5%) and Detroit (3.4%) had the largest gains. Metro area job competition increased slightly for job seekers in 20 percent of major metros, including New York, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, and Boston.
Job openings decrease in more than half of all industries
Job openings in 11 of 18 industries decreased in August, with non-profit (-19.1%) and agriculture (-15.4%) showing the biggest declines. However, coinciding with seasonal hiring, the retail industry (11.6%) increased. Year-over-year, more than 75% of industries continue to show job opening growth.
Personal care and services jobs increase
Occupations including personal care and services (18.2%), journalists and media workers (12.3%) and retail salespersons (10.3%) saw the largest amount of growth in August. While healthcare-related companies continue to be the nation’s top hiring, a number of retail companies joined the list this month as seasonal hiring for the holiday season begins.
