Employment Index Shows Declines

For State, Region, Nation

HARTFORD — The July 2012 Monster Employment Index (MEI), analyzed by the Connecticut Economic Resource Center, Inc (CERC), shows Connecticut has stepped back down from the increase seen last month. This decline was also seen for the New England region and the nation.

On a positive note, both Connecticut’s index and the New England region’s remained slightly above the level seen in May for the respective geographies. The nation’s index, on the other hand, fell back to the level seen in May.

“During slow economic recoveries, we tend to see unevenness in job postings,” said Alissa DeJonge, director of research at CERC.

*Connecticut’s Monster online technical jobs index for June 2012 declined by 4.1 percent from the previous month. The New England region and the United States also declined – 3.0 percent and 3.9 percent, respectively.

*There was a slight bit of growth leftover from the increase in the MEI seen in Connecticut between May and June, even after the decline from June to July. Overall, since May, the state has grown by 0.9 percent. The New England region also shows overall growth since May (1.6 percent); however, the gain seen from May to June for the United States was completely removed in the June to July change.

*Connecticut’s openings for the month of July 2012 were at 82.5 percent of the openings seen in January 2008. The New England measure for July was even lower, at 77.4 percent. However, for the nation as a whole, the number of online technical job openings in July at 91.9 percent was still below the level observed at the start of 2008, but much higher than either the New England region’s index or that of the state of Connecticut’s.

The Monster Employment Index is a monthly gauge of online job demand based on a real-time review of millions of employer job opportunities culled from a large representative selection of career web sites and online job listings.

The index is a leading indicator showing the willingness of firms to offer job opportunities; more opportunities assume additional job hires in the future.

CERC is partnering with Monster Government Solutions, a subsidiary of Monster Worldwide, to offer exclusive, real-time Connecticut labor market data on a month-to-month basis. For more information, visit www.cerc.com and connect to CERC on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter (@cercinc).