More than two workers are competing for every job opening in the Twin Cities metropolitan area, according to the latest job vacancy survey from the state of Minnesota.
The survey found 72,000 unemployed workers for every 29,000 jobs available in the seven-county metro region. The JOBS NOW Coalition, which also tracks the quantity and quality of jobs available, noted these findings in the survey:
*Over the last three years, the number of job openings has dropped from 98,000 to just 29,000?a decline of over 70 percent.
*More than one-third (34 percent) of openings are for part-time jobs; the median wage for these jobs is $9 per hour.
*Sixty percent of openings require no education beyond a high school degree.
*More than one-third of all job openings are in three occupational fields?retail sales, food preparation/serving, and office/administrative support?where the combined median wage is $8.66 per hour. Over the last three years, the number of openings in these occupations has declined by nearly 80 percent. Of the 45,000 openings that existed in these occupations three years ago, fewer than 10,000 remain.
*The median wage for all metro area job openings is $11 per hour?one dollar per hour higher than the median from six months earlier. According to JOBS NOW's Cost of Living report, this is still less than what?s needed to support a family. In a metro family of four with both parents earning wages, both workers must earn an hourly wage of $12.43 per hour just to meet the average costs of basic needs.
"The higher median wage would be good news if it meant that a lot of new high-wage jobs were being created, but that?s not what?s happening," said JOBS NOW Education Director Kevin Ristau. "The biggest reason for the higher median is not that we?ve been gaining good jobs but that we?ve been losing bad jobs."
For more information
Visit the JOBS NOW website, www.jobsnowcoalition.org
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More than two workers are competing for every job opening in the Twin Cities metropolitan area, according to the latest job vacancy survey from the state of Minnesota.
The survey found 72,000 unemployed workers for every 29,000 jobs available in the seven-county metro region. The JOBS NOW Coalition, which also tracks the quantity and quality of jobs available, noted these findings in the survey:
*Over the last three years, the number of job openings has dropped from 98,000 to just 29,000?a decline of over 70 percent.
*More than one-third (34 percent) of openings are for part-time jobs; the median wage for these jobs is $9 per hour.
*Sixty percent of openings require no education beyond a high school degree.
*More than one-third of all job openings are in three occupational fields?retail sales, food preparation/serving, and office/administrative support?where the combined median wage is $8.66 per hour. Over the last three years, the number of openings in these occupations has declined by nearly 80 percent. Of the 45,000 openings that existed in these occupations three years ago, fewer than 10,000 remain.
*The median wage for all metro area job openings is $11 per hour?one dollar per hour higher than the median from six months earlier. According to JOBS NOW’s Cost of Living report, this is still less than what?s needed to support a family. In a metro family of four with both parents earning wages, both workers must earn an hourly wage of $12.43 per hour just to meet the average costs of basic needs.
“The higher median wage would be good news if it meant that a lot of new high-wage jobs were being created, but that?s not what?s happening,” said JOBS NOW Education Director Kevin Ristau. “The biggest reason for the higher median is not that we?ve been gaining good jobs but that we?ve been losing bad jobs.”
For more information
Visit the JOBS NOW website, www.jobsnowcoalition.org