QUARTERLY LABOR MARKET REPORT CITY OF DETROIT Q1 2015
SUMMARY CITY OF DETROIT Q1 2015 DEMAND OVERVIEW Registered nurses are the top posting occupation in the City of Detroit for the second consecutive quarter (1,274 online postings). Software developer postings are just behind in second with 1,263 job ads for Q1 2015. Job ads for software developers increased by 223% between Q4 2014 and Q1 2015. The postings for these top two occupations more than double the third most in-demand position, tractor-trailer truck drivers (603 postings). The labor force in the City of Detroit has been on a very slow and steady decline. During 2014 employment averaged 284,597 with an available labor force of 336,481. Employment levels have been steadily increasing since 2011 while the labor force has decreased. The decrease in labor force outpacing the increase in employment has played a large role in the city’s unemployment rate—now 15.4%--dropping two percentage points from 2013 to 2014. Total online job postings in the City of Detroit grew from 20,930 in Q4 2014 to 21,859 in Q1 2015, a modest 4% increase. This is the third highest number of postings for a quarter since Q1 2011 and a second consecutive quarter of growth for employer demand. Q1 2015 saw IT postings increase by 1,798, a 60% jump. The five occupation groups analyzed by WIN comprise 57.3% of online job postings in the City of Detroit. *This report includes top jobs and postings over time highlights for clusters that have made major shifts or movements in the past quarter. The data is updated each quarter based on the clusters with the most noteworthy changes. For complete top jobs lists, educational attainment, and wage information, please see the regional reports or contact WIN's Research Director Colby Cesaro at colby.cesaro@win-semich.org.
TOP JOBS Q1 2015
ANALYSIS Registered nurses are the top posting occupation in the City of Detroit for the second consecutive quarter (1,274 online postings). Software developer postings are just behind in second with 1,263 job ads for Q1 2015. Job ads for software developers increased by 223% between Q4 2014 and Q1 2015. The postings for these top two occupations are more than double the third most indemand position, tractortrailer truck drivers (603 postings). This is a decrease of over 300 postings from Q4 2014’s numbers, possibly signaling that employers are filling at least some of their open positions.
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HIGHLIGHTS HEALTH CARE POSTINGS OVER TIME
ANALYSIS Health care online postings in the City of Detroit decreased for three consecutive quarters (Q1Q3 2014). Since reaching a five quarter low in Q3 2014, postings increased by nearly 81% during Q4 2014 and Q1 2015. Further, Q1 2015 marks the highest recorded number of job postings related to health care occupations since online posting data has been collected. Health care occupation online postings now represent 15.4% of all online job postings in the City of Detroit up from 13.2% in Q4 2014.
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY POSTINGS OVER TIME
ANALYSIS Between Q4 2013 and Q4 2014 IT postings decreased in the City of Detroit by about 367 postings per quarter, on average, however, Q1 2015 saw IT postings increase by 1,798, a 60% jump. Further, this is the highest recorded number of job postings related to IT occupations since online posting data has been collected. Like most of the WIN Region, the City of Detroit is experiencing tremendous demand growth for IT occupations. IT occupation online postings now represent 22.1% of all online job postings in the City of Detroit. 3
LABOR MARKET OVERVIEW EMPLOYMENT & LABOR FORCE
ANALYSIS The labor force in the City of Detroit has been on a very slow and steady decline. During 2014 employment averaged 284,597 with an available labor force of 336,481. December 2014 marked a high point in employment with 288,758 individuals with jobs. However, this was also a historical low for labor force participation with only 327,595 individuals available for work. The City of Detroit’s employment levels have been steadily increasing since 2011 while the labor force has decreased causing unemployment to drop but not for the right reasons. Between 2013 and 2014 employment grew by 1% while the labor force shrunk by 1.7%. The labor force decline outpacing the increase in employment has played a large role in the city’s unemployment rate dropping two percentage points from 2013 to 2014. The average unemployment rate for 2014 was 15.4%. Employers today have fewer workers to choose from than ever before.
TOTAL POSTINGS OVER TIME ANALYSIS Total online job postings in the City of Detroit grew from 20,930 in Q4 2014 to 21,859 in Q1 2015, a modest 4% increase. While the increase is not substantial, Q1 2015 marks the third highest number of postings for a quarter since Q1 2011 and a second consecutive quarter of growth for employer demand. Postings in the city remain high, yet employment growth is minimal signaling that employers are struggling to find the right workers for open positions. 4
POSTING TRENDS BY CLUSTER
ANALYSIS Postings in the City of Detroit increased for four of the five clusters analyzed by WIN between Q4 2014 and Q1 2015. Posting growth was the largest for IT occupations while Retail & Hospitality was the only cluster to experience a decrease. IT remains the strongest cluster in the city, representing 22.1% of online job ads, an increase of nearly 8 percentage points from 14.5% in Q4 2014. Health care postings continue to increase their share of total postings, up over two percentage points from Q4 2014. Retail & Hospitality postings have decreased by nearly 1,000 since Q1 2014 and lost about 5% in share of total postings. Nonetheless, Retail & Hospitality remains an important cluster for the City of Detroit as it represents 13.4% of total online job ads. The five occupation groups analyzed by WIN comprise 57.3% of online job postings in the City of Detroit.
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TOP JOBS BY CLUSTER ENGINEER & DESIGNER TOP JOBS
ANALYSIS Mechanical engineers was the most in-demand engineer occupation for the City of Detroit in Q1 2015 with 217 online job ads. This is a notable increase from their Q4 2014 second-place standing with 144 postings. Civil engineers were the most in-demand occupation in the previous quarter (155 postings) but fell to third this quarter (111 postings). Electrical and industrial engineers round out the top four and also saw a considerable increase in postings this quarter. This could signal that employers are having a difficult time finding the talent they need to fill these engineering positions.
SKILLED TRADE & TECHNICIAN TOP JOBS
ANALYSIS First-line supervisors of production and operating workers remains as the top posting occupation for the skilled trades in Q1 2015 with 97 online postings. This occupation accounts for over 25% of all skilled trades-related postings in the City of Detroit for Q1 2015 . Other top occupations for this cluster include inspectors, testers, sorters, samplers, and weighers (41 postings) and electronic engineering technicians (29 postings).
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TOP JOBS BY CLUSTER HEALTH CARE TOP JOBS
ANALYSIS Registered nurses continue to dominate health care postings in the City of Detroit with 1,274 online job ads in the first three months of 2015, more than six times the next most in-demand occupation. Registered nurses account for nearly 40% of all health care related postings. Other top occupations include nursing assistants (199 postings) and medical records and health information technicians (168 postings).
IT TOP JOBS
ANALYSIS Software developers, applications remains as the top posting occupation for IT in the City of Detroit for Q1 2015. The postings for this occupation increased from 566 in Q4 2014 to 1,263 in Q1 2015, a 223% increase. This occupation accounts for over 25% of all ITrelated postings in the city . Other top posting occupations for IT include computer systems analysts (548 postings) and business intelligence analysts (465 postings).
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