November was another active month for the Westchester County job market, but with another slight decrease in open jobs posted ”“ of about 5 percent vs. October, across multiple industries and in various towns.
That followed a month that showed a 7 percent decrease in job market activity. This news follows in the footsteps of the national reports that indicated a stronger-than-expected level of hiring for November.
Some key items of note regarding November:
Ӣ White Plains continues to show itself as the hub of job market activity, followed this month by Yonkers and Tarrytown.
Ӣ The industries most actively hiring this past month were transportation, services and health care.
Ӣ Top job categories were logistics, sales and health services.
While the data from the county still is lagging a bit in its release after the government shutdown, the storylines are still somewhat clear. Area hiring coming into the fall was strong, suggesting a mix of pent-up demand from the summer and some growth. As we hit December we are seeing softness that usually is tied to the fact that late September and October hiring is mostly about seasonal and year-end needs.
Employers continue to show a high number of open positions posted, suggesting the continued need for talent. Recent job fairs in the marketplace also suggest a broad level of need for a wide range of position types, all of which are good signs for the county.
With all the positive indicators comes the reality that the market has given back some job activity, with two consecutive months of modest pullback. If December holds to past year”™s patterns then the month will be soft to a little down, setting the stage for January as a recovery month. As the financial markets look to the Federal Reserve for indications that it will ease its participation in economic stimulation, the county needs to watch how any news of that nature affects employer behavior. Stay tuned.
David Lewis is President/CEO of WestchesterCountyJobs.com, the region”™s most prolific job board with over 100,000 area visitors a month to his network of job boards to view jobs from over 4,000 area employers. You can learn more about David and his team at www.WestchesterCountyJobs.com.
