Simply Hired reported in its March 2013 Employment Outlook that for the eighth time in 10 months the U.S. has experienced growth in job openings. In February, job openings increased 8.5 percent month-over-month and 19.6 percent year-over-year. Nationwide job competition held steady at a ratio of three unemployed persons for every one job opening.
Job openings increased in all 50 major metros in February. One quarter of metros experienced double-digit growth, with Nashville (14.0 percent), Austin (13.6 percent) and Las Vegas (13.1 percent) facing the largest gains.
16 out of 18 industries experienced job growth in February, the largest gains being in the agriculture (21.6 percent) and construction (18.8 percent) industries. This is the second month in a row that agriculture experienced a double-digit gain. Year-over-year, three-quarters of industries have experienced growth.
Nearly all occupation categories (22 out of 24) experienced growth in job openings in February. Construction and extraction workers (16.5 percent) and journalists and media workers (15.6 percent) experienced the largest amount of growth month-over-month.
These findings are part of Simply Hired's March 2013 Employment Outlook which highlights job industry and employer trends in national and regional U.S. markets.
