Nearly all of the Metro job openings that vanished during the Great Recession of 2008-2009 have been regained, according to an analysis by the JOBS NOW Coalition. But the sharpest decline in openings over the past decade did not occur during the Great Recession; it took place earlier, during the 2001 recession and the two years that followed.
When the state first conducted the Job Vacancy Survey in 2001, the Metro Region had 72,000 job openings. By the end of 2003 the number of openings had fallen to 29,000 — a drop of 58 percent.
Most of the job openings that vanished between 2001 and 2003 have never been recovered. From 2004 through 2007 — the best four years of the decade for the Metro job market — the area gained back only about 1,000 of the 43,000 openings that disappeared in the earlier part of the decade.
Other major findings in the current survey for the Metro Region include:
• Sixty-two percent of all job openings are full-time. Job seekers outnumber full-time openings 5-to-1.
• For part-time openings the median wage is $8.75 per hour.
• Only half of all openings require education or training beyond high school; and less than one-third (31 percent) of openings require a four-year degree.
• The median wage for all openings is $11.54 per hour.
For many Metro workers, $11.54 per hour is not enough to make ends meet. JOBS NOW’s Cost of Living research shows that in a Metro family of four with both parents working, each worker must earn $14.78 per hour to meet basic needs. To see the Cost of Living research by county, use the online Family Wage & Budget Calculator.
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Nearly all of the Metro job openings that vanished during the Great Recession of 2008-2009 have been regained, according to an analysis by the JOBS NOW Coalition. But the sharpest decline in openings over the past decade did not occur during the Great Recession; it took place earlier, during the 2001 recession and the two years that followed.
When the state first conducted the Job Vacancy Survey in 2001, the Metro Region had 72,000 job openings. By the end of 2003 the number of openings had fallen to 29,000 — a drop of 58 percent.
Most of the job openings that vanished between 2001 and 2003 have never been recovered. From 2004 through 2007 — the best four years of the decade for the Metro job market — the area gained back only about 1,000 of the 43,000 openings that disappeared in the earlier part of the decade.
Other major findings in the current survey for the Metro Region include:
• Sixty-two percent of all job openings are full-time. Job seekers outnumber full-time openings 5-to-1.
• For part-time openings the median wage is $8.75 per hour.
• Only half of all openings require education or training beyond high school; and less than one-third (31 percent) of openings require a four-year degree.
• The median wage for all openings is $11.54 per hour.
For many Metro workers, $11.54 per hour is not enough to make ends meet. JOBS NOW’s Cost of Living research shows that in a Metro family of four with both parents working, each worker must earn $14.78 per hour to meet basic needs. To see the Cost of Living research by county, use the online Family Wage & Budget Calculator.