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 13,000 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 the second quarter of 2011, employers reported a total of 54,670 vacancies, up 32.1 percent from second quarter of 2010.  These 54,670 vacancies translate into a job vacancy rate of 2.2 percent, or 2.2 job openings per 100 jobs.  This is up from the vacancy rate of 1.6 percent one year ago and 1.4 percent six months ago.  Care must be taken, however, in comparing 2^nd and 4^th quarter rounds of the survey as there are clear seasonal variations, with 2^nd quarter tending to have higher vacancy rates than 4^th quarter given a consistent level of economic activity.

Statewide, there were 3.6 unemployed people for each vacancy during second quarter 2011.  A year earlier, there were 4.8 unemployed people for each vacancy.  This over-the-year decrease in the number of unemployed persons per vacancy is driven both by a slight decrease in the total number of unemployed and an increase in the number of job vacancies, from one year ago (see Figure 1). These data suggest the labor market remains challenging for job seekers, though somewhat improved from one year ago.  Table 1 provides historical data.

Regionally, 54 percent of all job vacancies, 29,514, are located in the Twin Cities seven-county area, while the remaining 25,157 vacancies are located in Greater Minnesota.  Compared to one year ago, the number of job vacancies increased by 43.2 percent in Greater Minnesota and by 23.8 percent in the Twin Cities.  Greater Minnesota has a job vacancy rate of 2.6 percent and the Twin Cities job vacancy rate is 2.0 percent.  The ratio of unemployed persons to job vacancies improved significantly in both Greater Minnesota and the Twin Cities area during the second quarter 2011 with 3.7 unemployed people per job vacancy in Greater Minnesota compared to 3.5 unemployed people per job vacancy in the Twin Cities.

In second quarter 2011, 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 Office and Administrative Support occupations, and Food Preparation and Serving occupations.

By size, firms with 50 or more employees account for 56.9 percent of total job vacancies, while firms with 10 to 49 employees account for 30.9 percent of total job vacancies.  Very small firms, those with less than 10 employees, have the fewest reported job vacancies representing 12.1 percent of the total.

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 second quarter 2011 job vacancies are as follows:

• Thirty-eight percent of job vacancies are for part-time employment.  Part-time is defined as fewer than 35 hours per week.
• Twenty-three 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-five percent of job vacancies require work experience related to the position.
• The median (50th percentile) wage offer for all job vacancies is $10.00 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-nine 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 second quarters 2010 and 2011.

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.  Go to http://www.positivelyminnesota.com/Data_Publications/Data/All_Data_Tools/Occupations_in_Dem_2.aspx for more information on OID.

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