Current data, as reported by the writers and career professionals at ResumeWriters.com. Last updated 08/31/03. Data updated monthly. (About our data.)
 

The above data is on a 0-10 point scale. A rating of "10" would mean finding a new job in that industry right away is extremely likely. A rating of "0" would mean finding a new job in that industry right away is almost impossible.  The "+" and "-" represent the change in ranking from the previous month.

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August 31, 2003

By Brian McCullough, Head Writer, ResumeWriters.com

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As always, this column and our data is provided by the professionals at ResumeWriters.com. Learn how we collect our data here.
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For the first time in five months, our State of the Job Market composite index is down slightly. The index is a sea of red numbers, but it's important to note that the majority of the pullbacks are small.

The job market as improved across the board for the last few months, so perhaps this is just a bit of a breather.

We were pleased to note that government job figures are starting to register the slight improvements we've been seeing. Since we're on the ground every day working with the job market in real time, we are confident that our data reflects the realities of the market sooner than the government can.

Since most of the movement in the job market sectors is slight, there are fewer story industries this month. Here are a few industries to note:

Real Estate continues to be a strong sector. We keep hearing that this industry should be slowing down as the boom in refinancing cools. However, we simply are not seeing this reflected be our data. We continue to see a lot of clients entering the real estate job force, and they seem to enjoying considerable success finding jobs. The refinancing boom might be over, but real estate firms are still hiring.

In what is likely a related story, the Trades/Construction industry sees a significant spike this month. However, this is a very seasonal job market, and the typical winter slowdown in hiring might be just on the horizon.

The Automotive job market is down slightly as our clients report that the automakers are still shy about making any significant new hires.

Business/Consulting, once one of the strongest job markets in the country, continues it's long slide into weakness. Our clients report that the "fad" for consulting and business experts seems to be over, and layoffs are the only way that the industry can make up for the business it is losing.

Education/Teaching remains historically weak, despite the expected seasonal upswing as the fall semester begins. Our clients, many of whom were laid off this year, are reporting that it is very difficult to locate new positions.

The downright depression in the Management/Executive job market continues.

And finally, the Social Services/Counseling job market appears slightly weaker, perhaps relating to the budgetary cuts by governments that we have been reporting on for a few months now.

The above reporting is taken from polled evidence and personal impressions, collected from the career professionals at ResumeWriters.com.

ResumeWriters.com does not collect or share personal data from it's clients. Information reported is of a macro, and not personal nature.

Learn more about how we collect our data here.