Monster U.S. online jobs index falls in July
NEW YORK (Reuters) - A gauge of online labor demand in the U.S. fell in July as a seasonal decline met shrinking online job availability in a majority of industries, occupations, regions and local markets, a private research group said on Thursday.
Monster Worldwide Inc, an online careers and recruiting firm, said its Employment Index slipped to 157 points in July from 163 in June. Year-over-year, the index fell 14.2 percent from 183 in July 2007.
The financial, real estate and construction sectors have been the most visible drag on the index in recent months, the report said.
"The decline in U.S. online recruitment activity during July is likely due in part to the seasonal summer slowdown that is typical of this time of year," said Jesse Harriott, a vice president at Monster.
"However, the breadth and depth of the contraction last month also suggests further softness in the country's underlying demand for labor," Harriott added.
The Monster report comes ahead of the U.S. Labor Department's release later on Thursday of initial claims for jobless benefits, forecast at around 395,000 according to a Reuters poll of economists. There were 406,000 new filings reported in the previous week.
The ADP National Employment report showed on Wednesday U.S. private employers likely added 9,000 jobs in July, a big leap from the 77,000 jobs lost in June and way above the expectation of a 60,000 further job loss.
The Monster index registered decreases in 27 of the 28 major metropolitan areas covered, with Miami the lone exception.
Online job demand was lower in all nine of the U.S. Census regions, with the West/North Central registering the biggest decline.
The Monster Employment index, a monthly analysis based on a selection of corporate career sites and job boards, has a margin of error of approximately plus or minus 1 percent.
(Reporting by Rodrigo Campos; editing by Gary Crosse)
