Jobless Americans Turning to Career Resource Sites

comScore, Inc. released a June 2009 overview of the career services & development category, which revealed that more than 65 million Americans visited the particular category in June, representing a 10-percent increase versus year ago, ranking it as one of the top-growing site categories. Seven of the top ten sites in the category achieved double-digit gains during that period.

CareerBuilder LLC led the category with 21.7 million unique visitors, followed by Yahoo! HotJobs with 17.9 million visitors (up 23 percent vs. year ago) and Monster.com with 14.5 million visitors (up 6 percent). The next three sites in the ranking have each achieved substantial growth in the past year, with Indeed growing 59 percent to 8 million visitors, Job.com Sites up 46 percent to 7.4 million visitors, and SnagAJob up 48 percent to 4.7 million visitors.

Top Career Resource Sites June 2009 vs. June 2008 Total U.S. – Home/Work/University Locations Source: comScore Media Metrix
	Total Unique Visitors (000)
	Jun-2008	Jun-2009	% Change
Total Internet : Total Audience	189,873	193,896	2
Career Services and Development	59,031	65,221	10
CareerBuilder LLC	22,033	21,704	-1
Yahoo! HotJobs	14,535	17,861	23
Monster	13,605	14,472	6
Indeed	5,046	8,046	59
Job.com Sites	5,049	7,378	46
SnagAJob	3,160	4,662	48
Simply Hired, Inc.	2,882	3,876	35
JOBSONLINE.NET	2,294	2,996	31
OPM	973	2,765	184
BRASSRING.COM	2,249	2,005	-11

 

Top 10 Occupations Searched* on Career Service & Development Sites June 2009 Total U.S. – Home/Work/University Locations Source: comScore Marketer
Occupation / Search Term	Searchers
Customer Service	273,310
Warehouse	257,484
Sales	216,784
Receptionist	178,787
Medical Assistant	161,232
Clerical	149,728
Construction	144,554
Driver	132,947
Retail	127,751
Security	107,219

 

WorkTree.com, the nation’s largest paid-membership job search portal, recently announced their top job search trends for the month of May, compiling data on many trends such as typical careers searched, desired salaries, and level of education.

The results show that the top careers being searched are in the fields of:

   Information Technology
   Human Resources
   Accounting/Finance
   Engineering
   Manufacturing/Operations

Sales dropped out of the top five most searched list from the previous month. These five fields represent 43% of all career fields searched during the month of May.

WorkTree.com also notes a drop in the salary level sought by its members. More than half of members searched for jobs in the $40,000 to $80,000 range, as compared with the previous month, where 21% of all searches were in the $90,000 to $120,000 range. In May, that salary range represented only 10% of searches. Typical education levels also dropped slightly. Nearly 71% of all searchers hold bachelor’s or master’s degrees as compared with 76% the previous month.

“We continue to see large numbers of highly qualified individuals actively seeking employment,” Board of Managers Chairman Allan Martin said. “One particularly interesting statistic – the willingness of people to relocate for work – is on the rise. It is the first time in many months we have seen that the number of new members willing to relocate is actually greater than the number of people unwilling to relocate for a job.”

Stricter Lending Criteria Causing Upswing in Used Vehicle Market

Stricter Lending Means A Shift Towards Used Vehicle Market

A struggling economy and stricter lending criteria have pushed more consumers toward used vehicle loans, according to a quarterly analysis of the automotive credit market released today by Experian Automotive.
Used vehicle loans accounted for 68.13 percent of all automotive loans in the first quarter of 2009, up from 64.3 percent of all automotive loans in the first quarter of 2008. Share of loans for new vehicles fell to 31.87 percent in the first quarter of 2009, compared with 35.7 percent in the first quarter of 2008.
“Banks, credit unions and captive finance companies appear to have tightened their lending criteria as they look to mitigate risk,” said Melinda Zabritski, director of automotive credit for Experian Automotive. “Loans are still available, but lenders are changing terms. This is pushing some consumers out of the new vehicle market and into the used vehicle market. Some finance companies that specialize in subprime loans have seen their share increase as traditional lenders move away from riskier loans.”
Independent used vehicle dealers — those dealers not affiliated with a specific manufacturer — were the biggest winners in the first quarter, seeing their share of used vehicle loans rise from 31.58 percent in the first quarter of 2008 to 34.97 percent in the first quarter of 2009. Independent dealers typically serve customers with lower credit scores and are gaining share as traditional lenders tighten their loan criteria.

Other findings include the following:

 -Loans 30 days past due were up 11.3 percent year over year in the first quarter of 2009, while loans 60 days past due were up 19.5 percent.

 -Currently, 2.48 percent of all automotive loans are 30 days past due, compared with 2.22 percent in the first quarter of 2008. Automotive loans 60 days past due rose to 0.82 percent from 0.69 percent.
-Consumer credit also has worsened in the past year, with the percentage of consumers who are considered prime decreasing by 2.6 percent. Conversely, the percentage of highest-risk consumers grew by 6.03 percent.

-Minnesota, Connecticut, Wisconsin, Iowa and Massachusetts boasted the highest average credit score for new vehicle loans in the first quarter, while New Hampshire, Connecticut, Minnesota, North Dakota and Wisconsin had the highest average credit score for used vehicle loans.

Los Angeles based market research firm IBISWorld estimated that over the last five years, industry revenue  for Used Car Dealers in the US increased at an average annualized real rate of 0.4. Although there has been a decline in the number of used cars and light trucks sold over the five year period, the average selling price has increased, which has led to growth in industry revenue.

Rise In Gas Prices Altering Consumer Behavior

According to research conducted by Kelly Blue Book in May 2009, the leading provider of new and used car information asked what consumers thought will happen with gas prices in the next month. The results? 87 percent of new-car shoppers said they thought gas prices would go much higher, a significant jump from the 66 percent who thought gas prices would increase just a month earlier.

In both April and May, more than 60 percent of in-market new-car shoppers said that rising gas prices have either caused them to change their minds or made them think about vehicles they normally wouldn’t have considered. When asked what they would be most likely to compromise in their next new-vehicle purchase in order to save money they might need to spend on fuel, shoppers cited engine size (for example, a four-cylinder versus a V6 or V8) as the top item likely to be sacrificed, followed closely by vehicle size (for example, a mid-size sedan versus a large sedan).
In addition, 73 percent of those who saw gas prices increasing in May said they plan to change their spending habits if gas prices were to go much higher.
“As summer approaches with household budgets still pinched by the weak economy, car buyers are once again becoming very conscious of rising gas prices,” said Jack R. Nerad, executive editorial director and executive market analyst for Kelley Blue Book and kbb.com. “While we may not see the $5-per-gallon gas experienced in some areas last year, current economic conditions compounded by the pain at the pump may make $3-per-gallon gas a new threshold for car buyers – the point at which they change their mind about what vehicle to buy and how they spend their money.”

Is the Recession Boosting Alarm Sales?

Photo by CraigPJ

With the economy in trouble, business owners are worried about more than just their bottom lines.  It seems that security is among one of their major concerns.

According to Larson Brewer, the owner of Phoenix-based Suncoast Security, the company’s alarm installations grew from 15 per week in 2008 to 25 per week in 2009.  Suncoast is adding as many as 17 jobs to its staff and has plans to expand to Colorado and Washington to meet the rising demand for security.

“New business is coming from residents and business owners concerned that they will see an increase in break-ins because of the down economy,” explained Brewer.  “Crime is not going down.  In fact, it’s gone up and we expect it to continue to rise.”

What do industry analysts say?

“Security alarm systems are considered a discretionary purchase, therefore revenue is expected to decline 2.3 percent in 2009,” explained George Van Horn, senior analyst with industry research firm IBISWorld.  “Last year, about 65 percent of alarm systems were purchased from businesses, 20 percent from government centers and 15 percent residential.  An increase in demand may be a reflection of recent budget cuts in local police forces.”