Online Recruitment Activity Rises in 11 of Top 28 U.S. Metro Markets in July

July 2006 Monster Local Employment Index Highlights:

-- Index shows greater online job availability in 11 markets in July, compared to just two markets in June, suggesting a slight rebound in employer recruitment activity

-- Denver registers highest rate of increase from previous month; Los Angeles, Indianapolis, Orlando and Sacramento also exhibit strong growth

-- Online demand for protective service and military specific occupations rises in a majority of local markets in July, mirroring nationwide growth trend

-- Opportunities for workers in education, training and library increase in many markets, as back-to-school season approaches

-- Roughly one third of the 28 markets show a downward trend for architecture and engineering positions over the past year, including Boston, New York and Washington, D.C.

Online job availability rose in 11 of the 28 top U.S. metropolitan areas during July, suggesting a slight rebound in online recruitment activity across major U.S. metro areas following a seasonal slowdown seen in the previous month of June.

The latest findings of the Monster Local Employment Index show growth in online opportunities in more than a third of the markets tracked last month, with Denver registering the strongest month-to-month increase, rising three points, and Los Angeles, Indianapolis, Orlando and Sacramento all edging up two points. Seven markets remained unchanged from their June levels, while 10 registered declines of varying degrees. Boston and St. Louis saw the sharpest declines, falling four and three points respectively.

In addition to demonstrating a slight rebound in online recruitment activity last month across more than a third of the markets tracked, the July findings of the Monster Local Employment Index point to continued strength in defense and security-related hiring throughout much of the country, and an overall pick-up in academic recruiting as schools began hiring for the fast-approaching fall semester, said Steve Pogorzelski, Group President, International at Monster Worldwide. Other notable trends include strong demand for healthcare workers in the Phoenix area, robust online job availability for production workers in Houston and a still-growing number of opportunities for construction workers in the Seattle area.

Continuing a nationwide trend, online demand for protective service and military related occupations rose across most markets in July, while opportunities for workers in education, training and library also increased, signaling a pick-up in hiring in advance of the back-to-school season. In contrast, online job availability for architecture and engineering positions continued a mostly downward trend across roughly one third of the markets tracked, particularly in east coast markets such as Boston, New York and Washington, D.C.

Overall, Phoenix, Houston, Minneapolis, Denver, and Seattle remained the fastest growing markets over the past twelve months, reflecting booming local economies and continued strong demand for labor despite the July rise in the national unemployment rate to 4.8 percent. Despite some strength in recruitment activity for legal, creative and healthcare support occupations, the Washington, D.C. metro area continued to show the slowest rate of growth in online recruitment activity of all 28 markets tracked. Nevertheless, online job availability per capita in the D.C. region remained strong and its unemployment rate was still at a relatively low level.

During July, Phoenix continued to demonstrate sharp growth in healthcare employment opportunities, along with solid demand for a variety of white-collar positions. The Phoenix area has seen the fastest rate of growth in overall payroll employment year over year among all the markets tracked by the Index. Meanwhile, online job availability for production workers continued to rise in Houston last month, where manufacturing employment has increased by nearly three percent for the year in strong contrast to the flatness seen on a national level. Demand for construction and building occupations remained strong in the Seattle metro area in July. While related payroll growth has slowed in many parts of the country, the Pacific Northwest has continued to add construction jobs due to in-migration and corporate expansion.