Steve Pogorzelski Outset Quotations

Overall, the U.S. labor market is off to a very solid start in 2006 as strong business fundamentals continue to boost employer demand for workers, creating more job opportunities and driving the unemployment rate down to well below 5 percent. Demand for workers in the U.S. remains elevated at the outset of the year, while the online migration of help-wanted advertising continues at a rapid pace. The Index's findings for February clearly indicate greater confidence among employers throughout much of the country, largely due to the underlying strength of the economy. This is encouraging news for job seekers and bodes well for this year's class of college graduates as they begin their search for employment.

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.