Job Vacancy Survey

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Overview

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Major Findings

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State and Regional Data

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Future Hiring by Region

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Historical Data

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About the Job Vacancy Survey

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Methodology

Major Findings

We survey employers twice a year to estimate hiring demand and job vacancy characteristics by industry, occupation and firm size in Minnesota. The information is gathered through a survey of about 10,000 firms stratified by 13 regions of the state, 20 industry sectors, and 4 size classes.

Using these data, job seekers can get information on the occupations showing hiring demand within their region. The information also helps employment, training and education providers understand current labor market conditions in their region and tailor services to better meet customer and employer needs. It is also a leading indicator of economic performance.

During fourth quarter 2012, employers reported a total of 58,864 vacancies, up 18.00 percent from fourth quarter 2011.  This is the highest number of vacancies during a fourth quarter survey round since 2005.

These 58,864 vacancies translate into a job vacancy rate of 2.3 percent, or 2.3 job openings per 100 jobs.  This is up from the vacancy rate of 2.0 percent one year ago, but slightly less than the 2.5 percent reported six months ago.  Care must be taken, however, in comparing second and fourth quarter rounds of the survey as there are clear seasonal variations, with second quarter tending to have higher vacancies and vacancy rates than fourth quarter given a consistent level of economic activity.

Statewide, there were 2.6 unemployed people for each vacancy.  A year earlier, there were 3.2unemployed people for each vacancy.  This over-the-year decrease in the number of unemployed persons per vacancy is driven both by a decrease in the total number of unemployed and a strong increase in the number of job vacancies from one year ago (see Figure 1). These data suggest that although the labor market remains challenging for job seekers, it is continuing to come back into alignment after the recession.  Table 1 provides historical data.

Regionally, 58.4 percent of all job vacancies, 34,401, are located in the Twin Cities seven-county area, while the remaining 24,464vacancies are located in Greater Minnesota.  Compared to one year ago, the number of job vacancies increased by 20.6 percent in Greater Minnesota and by 16.2 percent in the Twin Cities.  Greater Minnesota has a job vacancy rate of 2.2 percent and the Twin Cities job vacancy rate is 2.6 percent.  The ratio of unemployed persons to job vacancies improved in the Twin Cities at 2.4 down from 2.9 a year ago, while Greater Minnesota shows a ratio of 3.0, down from 3.7 during fourth quarter 2011.

Statewide, the Health Care and Social Assistance industry has the most job vacancies, followed by Retail Trade, Accommodation and Food Services, and Manufacturing. 

In terms of occupational groups Sales and Related occupations reported the most vacancies followed by Food Preparation and Serving and Office, and Administrative Support occupations. 

Firms in the two middle size ranges, 10 to 249 employees, accounted for 62.1 percent of vacancies.  Large firms accounted for 23.6 percent of vacancies while very small firms, those with fewer than 10 employees, accounted for only 14.2 percent of vacancies.

What Are the Characteristics of Job Vacancies?
Along with the number of vacancies, employers also report on the characteristics of their job vacancies including education and experience requirements, wage and benefit offers, whether the vacancies are temporary or seasonal and part-time or full-time positions.  Some key characteristics of the fourth quarter 2012 job vacancies are as follows:

• Thirty-nine percent of job vacancies are for part-time employment.  Part-time is defined as fewer than 35 hours per week. 
• Fourteen percent of job vacancies are for temporary or seasonal work.
• Forty-two percent of vacancies require some level of post-secondary education or training beyond a high school diploma.  This means the majority of vacancies require no education beyond a high school diploma or equivalent.
• Thirty-four percent of job vacancies require work experience related to the position.
• The median (50th percentile) wage offer for all job vacancies is $13.14 per hour.  Wage offers are highly correlated with experience and education requirements: On average, the higher the education and/or experience required, the higher the wage offer (see chart below).
• Fifty-two percent of vacancies offer health insurance.  Health care benefits are by far less common for part-time job vacancies than for full-time job vacancies.

How Does This Year Compare to Last?
The following tables provide a comparison of the number of job vacancies by occupational group (Table 2.1) and industry sector (Table 2.2) between fourth quarters 2011 and 2012.

Which Occupations Are in Demand?
Jobseekers and employers want to know who is hiring and for what fields of work.  Job vacancy counts alone are not a complete picture of labor market demand since larger occupations tend to have higher numbers of vacancies.

Occupations in Demand (OID) provides a ranked list of occupations currently in demand, along with links to occupational descriptions, wages and programs of study.  Lists are available for Minnesota as well as the 13 sub-state Economic Development Regions.  These lists use measures of demand from Job Vacancy Survey statistics as well as other sources of data including Unemployment Insurance claimants and Occupational Employment Statistics.

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