Nationwide Job Openings Decrease in August Yet Remain Positive for 2012 According to Simply Hired’s U.S. Employment Outlook

World’s Most Comprehensive Job Site Sees Hiring Slow in Majority of Metro Areas

SUNNYVALE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--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”

“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.

About Simply Hired

Simply Hired (www.simplyhired.com) is the world’s most comprehensive job site. With more than 30 million unique visitors per month, the company provides job seekers free access to over eight million job openings from company career sites, newspapers and job boards – delivering more jobs than any other site. simplyhired.com offers the most advanced mobile, social and personalization features to surface relevant jobs and reveal people that you know at hiring companies. Simply Hired connects employers to qualified candidates through its proven pay-for-performance recruiting solution and offers the most cost-effective way to reach candidates across all industries and geographies. It also operates the largest recruitment advertising network reaching both active and passive candidates by publishing jobs to over 25,000 partner sites, including Bloomberg Businessweek, Mashable and The Washington Post. The Sunnyvale, California-based company has twice been named a “Top Workplace” by The Bay Area News Group and is funded by Foundation Capital and IDG Ventures.