Online Job Demand Rises in All 28 Top U.S. Metro Markets in February

- Online Job Availability for Business; IT; Engineering; and Construction Workers Increases Across Nearly Every Market

- Metro Areas in Western and Southern Regions See

- Particularly Large Spike in Online Recruitment Activity During February

According to the latest findings of the Monster Local Employment Index, online job availability increased in all 28 top U.S. metropolitan areas in February, as recruitment activity in more than half of the major U.S. metro areas tracked jumped significantly.

During the past month, all 28 markets tracked by the Index saw a moderate-to-dramatic rise in online job demand. Metro areas in the western and southern regions of the country experienced the sharpest growth, while California markets, such as Sacramento, San Diego and San Francisco all rose considerably, surging seven points each, due to strong online demand for IT, business and professional services occupations.

Cleveland, Houston, Indianapolis, Kansas City and New York City increased by six points each during February, while Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Detroit, Miami, Minneapolis and Orlando all registered growth of five points. The remaining markets increased between one and four points each.

The surge in the Monster Local Employment Index in February suggests a healthy and confident business climate across all major metro areas in the U.S., with particularly strong growth amongst markets in the West and South, said Steve Pogorzelski, Group President, International at Monster Worldwide. The first quarter of the year is clearly off to a solid start with the Index results showing strong, broad growth in employer demand for workers.

During February, 27 of 28 local markets rose or held steady for management; business and financial operations; and office and administrative support occupations, indicating strong hiring demand in the corporate sector across major metro areas. Additionally, all markets saw an increase in the number of online opportunities for sales workers, a category with a large concentration of jobs in retail and wholesale sectors, as well as the corporate sector.

Online job availability for computer and mathematical (IT) workers also rose in all but one market during the month, with the final market remaining unchanged. The San Francisco Bay Area has seen the largest rate of increase in online demand for IT workers since the Indexís inception. In contrast, the slowest growing markets for this occupation are Baltimore and Washington, D.C., suggesting a relatively flat level of demand in government and non-profit sectors in those areas.

Online recruitment efforts for architecture and engineering workers rose in all but two of the local markets in February, suggesting continued stepwise growth in demand for technically-skilled workers. The Sacramento area demonstrated the largest month-to-month increase in online opportunities for these occupations and also saw the largest rate of growth over the past 10 months, closely followed by Houston where hurricane reconstruction efforts and renewed energy initiatives have boosted the demand for architects and engineers alike.

All 28 metro areas also showed increased online job availability for construction and extraction workers last month, with the largest rate of increase seen in Cleveland and San Diego. Februaryís positive upswing for construction and extraction occupations is likely due to a rebound from the seasonal slowdown at the end of 2005, unusually mild winter weather in much of the country and sustained online migration.