Steve Pogorzelski Monster Quotations

The broad growth in employer demand measured across nearly all of the top cities in the country is another positive sign of U.S. labor strength in the first quarter of 2006. The Monster Index is also showing a greater number of online opportunities within the business and healthcare sectors, which are key indicators of the health of the U.S. economy.

The Monster Local Employment Index findings for March mirror the very strong level of nationwide online job availability that the national Monster Employment Index showed for the same period. The broad growth in employer demand measured across nearly all of the top cities in the country is another positive sign of U.S. labor market strength in the first quarter of 2006. The Index is also showing a greater number of online opportunities within the business and healthcare sectors, which are key indicators of the health of the U.S. economy.

The Monster Employment Index has shown strong, steady, upward growth throughout most of 2005, with a noteworthy growth trend over the past four months, ending in an expected seasonal dip in December. The past month's decline indicates the slowdown in online hiring registered in December of 2003 and 2004, as employers typically wrap up their seasonal hiring activity and await approval on 2006 budgets. Despite this anticipated seasonal slowdown, almost all industries, occupations, regions and states show much higher levels of online job availability than a year ago, demonstrating solid growth over the course of 2005. This certainly bodes well for job seekers as we enter 2006.

The surge in the Monster Local Employment Index in February suggests a healthy and confident business climate across all major metro areas in the U.S., with particularly strong growth amongst markets in the West and South. The first quarter of the year is clearly off to a solid start with the Index results showing strong, broad growth in employer demand for workers.

The January findings of the Monster Local Employment Index show that eight major U.S. markets rebounded from a seasonal slowdown in recruitment in December, indicating increased online hiring activity due to higher demand for workers. The national Index findings for January were clearly consistent with other labor and economic indicators pointing to solid employment growth at the outset of 2006, so overall, this year's labor market appears to be off to another strong start.