The Monster Employment Index, issued by online job-search giant Monster Worldwide (MWW), shows that the amount of jobs being lost in the U.S. is still rising, but in ever-smaller increments. The Monster Employment Index for December 2009 reached 115, four points lower than the November figure, and 12% below the December 2008 number of 131.
According to Monster’s senior VP Jesse Harriott, “The decline in the Monster Employment Index during December is typical due to end-of-year seasonality. However, the improvement in the annual rate of decline lends evidence to a slight firming in underlying employer demand for workers at the end of the year.”
Similarly, ADP (ADP) yesterday reported U.S. private sector job losses in December reached 84,000 — its smallest job loss read in 21 months. Both the Monster Employment Index and the ADP report indicate that though job losses continue to rise, the trend is still slowing. And as the Monster brand is typically associated with job recruitment and not actual hiring, its Monster Employment Index serves as a leading indicator on hiring trends.
However, all eyes will be on tomorrow’s U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) report on December employment. The BLS job report is not only more highly regarded than the ADP or Monster Employment Index reports, but it is also tracks trends behind-the-headline numbers such as the “civilian participations rate” (which takes into consideration those who have given up looking for work and are thus rendered “invisible”) and changes in the average workweek.
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