Florida posts gain in online job vacancies
Florida is among a handful of states that posted the largest monthly gains in the number of online job postings, which were up by 25,500 in January, according to The Conference Board’s Help Wanted OnLine Data Series. Only California, with a 67,600 jump, had more.
"The last three months have shown a sharp upturn in employer demand for workers," said Gad Levanon, associate director of macroeconomic research at The Conference Board, in a news release. "These increases have brought us back near the labor demand levels that existed in November 2008, just prior to the huge losses resulting from the financial turmoil in the last quarter of 2008. This is very good news since these seasonally adjusted increases come in two months, when we normally see employers cut back on advertising for workers."
And, while that’s good news, the number of unemployed continues to exceed the number of advertised vacancies in all 52 of the metropolitan areas The Conference Board looks at.
In Miami, there were nine unemployed people for every five vacancies posted in November 2009, the latest month for which unemployment data was available.
Among the 10 occupation groups with the largest number of online advertised vacancies nationwide, office and administrative support occupations posted the largest January gain, up 74,100.
- Advertised vacancies in management occupations were up 54,500 in January, to 427,400.
- Computer and mathematical science professions rose 40,600 in January, to 514,700.
- Labor demand for health care support occupations rose 6,500 to 119,000.
Demand for health care support workers has remained relatively steady throughout the recession, although the number of unemployed seeking work in this field has remained relatively high, The Conference Board noted.